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1 


BR  148  .B3  I 

Ballou,  Adin,  1803-1890.   j 
Primitive  Christianity  and 
its  corrupt  ions  . . 


With  the  Compliments  of 

/ 
548    West    Park    Street, 

Dorchester,  Mass. 


Please   Acknowledge    Receipt. 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

AND  ITS   CORRUPTIONS. 

VOL.    II. 

DEPARTMENT   OF   PERSONAL    RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

A    SERIES    OF    DISCOURSES 

Delivered    in    Hopedale,    Mass., 
A.    D.    1870-71, 

y 

BY    ADIN     BALLOU. 

EniTED    BY    William    S.    Hp:ywood. 


"Which  of  you  coiwinceth    me  of  sin.?     And   if  I  say  the  truth 
why  do  ye  not  believe  me?"  —  John  viii.  4.6. 

"Except  your  righteousness  shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  case  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven."  —  Matt.  v.  20. 

"  Why  call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I 
say  ?  "  —  Ljike  vi.  46. 


LOWELL,    MASS.: 

Thompson  &  Hii.l,  Prfntfrs.  —  Thf.  Vox    Poimtli   Prf.ss. 

1899. 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

AND  ITS  CORRUPTIONS, 

VOL    II 

DEPftRTMENT  OF  PERSONAL   RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

A    SERIES     OF     DISCOURSES 

Delivered  in  Hopedale,  Mass., 

A.   D.    1870-71. 

Edited    bv    William    S.    Heywood. 


"  Which  of  you  convinceth  me  of  sin  ?  And  if  I  say  the  truth, 
why  do  ye  not  believe  me?"  —  yo/in  viit.  46. 

"  Except  your  righteousness  shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  case  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven."  —  Matt.  v.  20. 

"Why  call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I 
say  .''  "  — Luke  vi.  46. 


LOWELL,    MASS.  : 

Thompson  &  Hii.i.,  PRrNiKks.  —  The  Vo.\   roiMii.i   1'rkss. 

1899. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


DISCOURSE    I. 
Statement  of  the  subject 1 

DISCOURSE    II. 
Primitive  Christian   Piety  :     Part  i 14 

DISCOURSE   III. 
Primitive  Christian   Piety  :     Part  2      ......       27 

DISCOURSE    IV. 

Corruptions  of    Primitive    Christian    Piety  :    Part    i.     In    rela- 
tion to  Worship 43 

DISCOURSE    V. 

Corruptions  of    Primitive  Christian    Piety  :    Part    2.     In    rela- 
tion to  Rites  and  Ceremonies 57 

DISCOURSE   VI. 

Corruptions  of   Primitive  Christian    Piety  :    Part    3.     In    rela- 
tion to  its  Divorce  from  Morality 72 

DISCOURSE    VII. 

Primitive  Christian   Moralitv 87 


CONTENTS. 

DISCOURSE   VIII. 
On  the  Fundamental  Virtue  of  Humility  .         ,  101 

DISCOURSE   IX. 
On  Self-Denial  as  a  Fundamental  Virtue  .         .  -        .     114 

DISCOURSE   X. 
On  the  Primitive  Christian  Virtue  of  Justice    ....     129 

DISCOURSE   XI. 
On  the  Fundamental  Virtue  of  Truthfulness  .         .     143 

DISCOURSE    XII. 
On  the  Supreme  Virtue  of  Perfect  Love  .         .  .         .     159 

DISCOURSE   XIII. 
On  the  Primitive  Christian  Doctrine  of  Non-Resistance.         .     174 
DISCOURSE    XIV. 

Christian   Morality  and  Civil  Government 189 

DISCOURSE  XV. 
On  the  I'rimitive  Christian  Virtue  of  Personal    Purity      .         .     204 

DISCOURSE    XVI. 
On  the   Primitive  Christian  Doctrine  concerning  Oath-taking  .     219 

DISCOURSE    XVII. 
On  the   Primitive  Christian  Doctrine  concerning   Property       .     2.'{4 


CONTENTS. 

DISCOURSE    XVIII. 
On  the  Primitive  Christian  Doctrine  concerning  Mental  Cult- 


ure   --248 

DISCOURSE   XIX. 

On  the    Primitive    Christian    Doctrine    respecting   the    use    of 

Talents,  etc 264 

DISCOURSE    XX. 

Primitive  Christian  Morality  vs.  Worldly  Morality  .         .         .     279 

DISCOURSE    XXI. 

Incipient  Corruptions  of  Primitive  Christian  Morality      .         .     294 

DISCOURSE    XXII. 

Increasing  Corruptions  of  IVimitive  Christianity       .         .         .     310 

DISCOURSE    XXIII. 

Deepening  Corruptions  of  Primitive  Christianity      .         .         .     .'{20 

DISCOURSE   XXIV. 

The    Morality    of    Christendom    during    the    tenth,    eleventh, 

twelfth,  and  thirteenth  Centuries 342 

DISCOURSE    XXV. 

The  Moral  Condition  of    Christendom  during  the  fourteenth, 

fifteenth,  and  si.xteenth  Centuries 359 

DISCOURSE   XXVI. 

The    Average    Morality    of    Christendom    in    the    seventeenth 

and  eighteenth  Centuries      .......     37r> 


CONTENTS. 


DISCOURSE   XXVII. 


The    Prevailing    Morality  of    Christendom    in    the    nineteenth 

Century 302 

DISCOURSE    XXVIII. 

General  Summary  and  Applicatory  Reflections  ;    Conclusion  .     409 


PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANITY  AND  ITS 
CORRUPTIONS. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  PERSONAL  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 


DISCOURSE    I. 

STATE  ME  XT   OF    THE   SUBJECT. 

"  I  say  unto  you,  That  except  your  righteousness  shall  exceed 
the  righteousness  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no 
case  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  —  il/rt//.  v.  20. 

In  the  series  of  discourses  composing  the  first 
volume  of  my  projected  work  on  Primitive  Chris- 
tianity AND  ITS  Corruptions,  I  endeavored  to  set 
forth  and  illustrate  the  pure  Theology  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ,  and  to  expose  the  principal  features  of  it 
which,  as  time  went  on,  were  seriously  misinterpreted, 
obscured,  and  perverted.  In  that  upon  the  same 
general  subject  which  appears  on  the  pages  of  the 
present  volume,  I  propose  to  render  a  similar  service 
in  behalf  of  the  distinctive  Personal  Righteousness 
taught  and  exemplified  by  the  Founder  of  our  holy 
religion  and  his  early  Apostles.  Primitive  Christian- 
ity embodies  an  exceptional  and  distinctive  type  of 
personal  righteousness,  as  it  has  an   exceptional  and 


A  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

distinctive  theological  system  declaratively  inculcated 
or  implied  in  its  teachings  and  ministrations.  Both 
are  transcendently  excellent,  and  are  in  strictest  har- 
mony with  each  other.  There  is  no  logical  or  moral 
discord  in  the  whole  Christian  superstructure,  as 
reared  by  its  Master-builder,  from  foundation  stone 
to  the  loftiest  summit  of  its  dome.  Its  theology  is 
perfect,  as  I  have  before  shown,  in  all  its  essentials  ; 
its  personal  righteousness  is  correspondingly  without 
defect  or  cause  of  reprehension. 

What  then  is  the  personal  righteousness  of  Primi- 
tive Christianity }  It  is  that  which  is  clearly  and 
unqualifiedly  taught,  exemplified,  and  enjoined  by 
Christ  and  his  Apostles,  as  declared  and  promul- 
gated in  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament.  There 
is  no  other  authentic  source  of  historical  information 
respecting  this  subject.  Before  proceeding  to  the 
consideration  of  its  merits  and  requirements,  how- 
ever, we  will  give  a  little  attention  to  the  matter  of 
definition  and  explanation.  Let  us  understand  what 
we  are  trying  to  discuss. 

What  then  do  we  mean  precisely  by  the  expression, 
personal  righteousness  ?  Righteousness  is  a  term 
derived  from  the  primary  word  right,  which  is  the 
verbal  equivalent  of  straight  or  direct,  as  by  line  or 
rule,  and,  with  its  corresponding  adjective,  is  used 
chiefly  in  religious  speech  and  literature.  When  a 
person,  people,  law,  principle,  or  course  of  conduct  is 
called  righteous,  it  is  to  be  understood  that  the  same 
is  proper,  allowable,  or  commendatory,  because  it  is 
in  accord  with  some  acknowledged  standard  of  moral 
worth.    Righteousness  denotes  either  justifiable  action 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  6 

or  an  incorrupt  state  of  mind  and  heart.  It  signifies, 
when  applied  to  persons,  doing  right  and  being  right, 
according  to  the  divine  law  of  rectitude  and  honor. 
It  is  sometimes  used  in  a  lower,  comparative  sense  ; 
but  I  give  it  its  higher,  its  absolute  moral  and  relig- 
ious meaning.  The  modifying  \.^xvii, personal,  restricts 
the  quality  represented  by  the  word  righteousness  to 
individuals  —  to  responsible  beings,  whose  action  or 
inward  state  is  determined  and  established  by  con- 
scious choice.  Personal  righteousness  is  not  predi- 
cated of  minerals,  vegetables,  animals,  or  unintelligent 
human  beings,  or  of  masses  of  people  governed  by 
arbitrary  compulsion  alone,  even  though  they  be  or 
do  what  is  in  itself  just  and  lawful  for  the  time  being. 
It  is  predicated  only  of  self  conscious,  free  moral 
agents,  who,  on  the  grounds  of  eternal  justice,  are 
accountable  for  what  they  do  and  for  what  they  are. 
Hence  we  speak  in  this  absolute  and  authoritative 
sense  of  the  personal  righteousness  of  God,  of  Christ, 
or  of  any  man.  The  expression  always  implies 
responsible  moral  agency,  voluntary  action  or  condi- 
tion of  mind,  and  some  rule,  standard,  or  law  of 
rectitude  which  is  tl;e  test  of  moral  quality  and 
desert.  Therefore,  perfect  personal  righteousness 
must  be  the  characteristic  of  a  responsible  being 
whose  motive,  thought,  and  conduct  are,  of  his  own 
consent  and  choice,  conformed  to  a  perfect  law  or 
standard,  inhering  in  the  nature  of  things  or  in  the 
counsels  and  ordinations  of  an  all-wise,  all-holy,  all- 
loving  Creator  and  Governor  of  the  world  and  all 
things  therein.  Such  is  God's  personal  righteous- 
ness ;   such  is  Christ's  personal   righteousness  ;   and 


4  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

such  the  ultimate  and  immaculate  personal  righteous- 
ness required  of  regenerate  humanity  —  a  righteous- 
ness after  which  every  member  of  that  humanity  is 
to  aspire  and  into  the  realization  of  which  every  such 
member  is  in  duty  bound,  as  far  as  possible,  to  come. 
Anything  short  of  this  would  leave  us  and  our  entire 
race  more  or  less  in  bondage  to  sin  and  misery,  and 
so  far  unsaved. 

And  now  the  main  question  recurs:  What  is  the 
unadulterated,  distinctive  personal  righteousness  of 
pure  Primitive  Christianity  ?  What  ought  we  to  ex- 
pect it  to  be  in  the  divine  order  of  the  world  as  por- 
trayed in  the  preceding  volume  of  this  work  ?  We, 
therein,  were  made  to  see,  theologically,  that  God  is 
the  all-perfect  universal  Father;  that  in  His  eternal 
purpose  the  destiny  of  mankind,  without  exception,  is 
perfection  and  bliss  ;  and  that  Jesus  Christ  is  an  all- 
sufficient  mediator,  commissioned  to  reconcile  the 
human  race  to  God,  so  that  He  shall  finally  "  be  all  in 
all."  We  saw,  too,  that  the  great  Creator  caused  man- 
kind to  come  into  existence  on  a  low  plane  of  intellect- 
ual and  moral  being,  with  their  animal  nature  dominant 
over  their  spiritual ;  that  consequently  they  are  vari- 
ously subject  to  sin  and  thereby  brought  into  greater 
or  less  condemnation  ;  and  that  adequate  means  and 
agencies  were  provided  in  the  divine  economy  for 
rendering  them  ultimately  holy  and  Christ-like  in 
spirit,  character,  and  conduct,  through  a  gradual 
process  of  enlightenment,  regeneration,  and  growth 
in  the  things  of  the  divine  life.  This  consummation^ 
when  reached,  must  present  every  one  perfect  in 
righteousness;  —  that  is,  voluntarily  submissive  and 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  O 

obedient  to  the  requirements  ot  the  divine  law  of 
love  to  God  and  man.  So  long  as  one  soul  remains 
unregenerate  and  disobedient,  in  overt  act  or  in 
secret  desire,  the  eternal  purpose  of  the  infinite 
Author  of  all  things  will  not  be  fulfilled.  The  media- 
torial and  saving  work  of  Christ  is  to  reach  and 
rescue  all  souls  from  the  power  of  temptation  and 
sin  ;  to  make  every  human  being  holy  from  the  love 
of  holiness  ;  to  mold  every  such  being  after  the  pat- 
tern of  his  own  image,  into  the  likeness  of  God. 
This  achievement  is  necessarily  of  grace,  through 
faith,  repentance,  and  salutary  discipline,  for  the 
reason  that  man  neither  originated  nor  deserved  it 
by  his  own  primal  wisdom  or  worthiness.  In  its  very 
nature  such  an  achievement  is  deliverance  from  the 
love  of  sin  into  the  love  of  righteousness,  and  would 
be  of  no  avail  unless  it  should  bring  those  subject  to- 
it  —  ultimately  all  mankind  —  into  a  state  of  mind 
and  heart  in  which  their  supreme  delight,  like  that  of 
Christ,  should  be  to  know  and  do  the  will  of  the  heav- 
enly Father  in  all  things.  In  former  expositions  we 
have  renounced  as  errors  and  corruptions  all  notions 
of  Christ's  saving  work  which  in  any  wise  imply  that 
the  saved  are  not  rendered  personally  righteous  in 
will,  in  purpose,  and  in  conduct.  Complete  salva- 
tion produces  as  its  legitimate  fruit  willing  obedience 
to  the  divine  requirements  from  the  spirit  of  obedi- 
ence within.  No  one  can  have  experienced  a  perfect 
salvation,  according  to  the  Christian  ideal,  until  he 
has  become  unreservedly  consecrated  to  truth  and 
duty  of  his  own  choice  and  as  a  matter  of  principle. 
So    lone;  as  he  transgresses  the  laws    of    his   being, 


6  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

which  are  the  conditions  of  his  happiness,  whether 
by  omission  or  commission,  in  thought  or  word  or 
deed,  he  remains  so  far  unsaved ;  is  so  far  under 
condemnation ;  must  so  far  suffer  the  miseries  con- 
sequent upon  his  shortcoming  or  wrong-doing. 

In  this  view  of  the  case,  we  can  clearly  understand 
why  Primitive  Christianity  requires  perfect  personal 
righteousness  as  indispensible  to  perfect  happiness. 
It  certainly  does  require  this,  as  the  final  issue  of 
the  obligation  which  it  lays  upon  the  human  soul. 
Not,  however,  as  a  condition  upon  which  God  mani- 
fests His  love  and  grace  to  the  children  of  men  ;  for 
His  love  and  grace  are  original,  spontaneous,  and 
unchangeable  in  Him,  whatever  be  their  moral  state 
or  deserving.  Nor  is  it  on  the  ground  that  God  will 
accept  no  righteousness  in  any  of  us  unless  it  be  a 
perfect  righteousness;  for  He  accepts  and  rejoices  in 
the  humblest  efforts  of  His  frail  and  imperfect  chil- 
dren to  honor  and  serve  Him;  He  approves  and 
rewards  the  least  and  poorest  expressions  of  right- 
eousness in  any  and  every  human  being,  according  to 
its  real  worth,  as  determined  by  the  sincerity  and 
sense  of  accountability  which  prompt  it.  The  least 
good  any  fallible  mortal  may  do  is  owned  and  com- 
mended of  Him  who  judges  impartially  every  subject 
of  His  moral  government,  as  the  least  evil  of  the 
usually  devout  and  upright  receives  His  just  con- 
demnation and  the  punishment  which  is  its  rightful 
due.  Nor  is  perfect  personal  righteousness  demanded 
because  God  or  Christ  or  the  Apostles  or  any  wise 
being  in  heaven  or  on  earth  expected  its  immediate 
attainment  and  exemplification  by  men  ;  for  divine  wis- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  i 

dom  knew  from  all  eternity  that  this  could  be  accom- 
plished only  after  long  and  earnest  struggle,  severe 
moral  discipline,  and   persevering   progress   in  well- 
doing.    But  it  is  enjoined  and  insisted  upon  as  an 
indispensable  finality,  and  as  an  essential  requisite  to 
the  ultimate  universal   harmony  and  bliss.     We  can 
never  experience  perfect  joy — unalloyed  felicity,  as 
individuals  or  as  a  race,  till  we  are  perfectly  right- 
eous.    The  heaven  or  hell  we  may  ever  inhabit  must 
be  according  to  our  possession  or  destitution  of  per- 
sonal righteousness.     This  is  the  law  of  our  being, 
the  ordinance  of  God,  and  none  can  escape  it.     Our 
heavenly  Father  asks,  indeed,  our  best  performance 
of  duty,  but  gives  due  credit  for  what  we  render,  and 
causes  us  to  take  the  legitimate  consequences  of  our 
action,  be  it  good  or  ill.     We  may  choose  to  go  to 
a   given    extent    in    acknowledging    the    claims    and 
in  practising  the  principles  of  righteousness,  but  no 
further.     Very  well.     The    great    Judge    of   all    the 
earth  is  not  disappointed,  nor  is  He  thwarted  in  His 
purpose  concerning  us  ;    nor  is  He  out  of  patience 
with  us,  nor  hopeless  and  disheartened  in  regard  to 
our  final  destiny.     But  He  sees  to  it  that  we  reap  as 
we  sow.     When  we  choose  how  much   righteousness 
we  will  accept  and  exemplify  and  how  much  unright- 
eousness, let  us  at  the  same  time  remember  and  con- 
sider that  we  also,  by  the  same  act,  decide  how  happy 
or  miserable  we  must  be  as  the  consequence  of  such 
choice,   and   as   our    thoughts    and    acts    yield    their 
appropriate  and  inevitable  harvest  of  good  or  ill,  of 
joy  or  sorrow,  to  the  soul.      If   not  in  time,  then    in 
eternity,  we  receive  an  equitable  recompense  for  the 


8  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

lives  we  lead  and  the  characters  we  form  and  illus- 
trate, whether  it  be  of  justification  unto  joy  unspeak- 
able and  full  of  glory,  or  of  condemnation  into  merited 
self-reproach  and  wretchedness.  These  are  the  plain 
teachings  of  Primitive  Christianity  ;  as  they  are  of 
enlightened  reason  and  human  experience  in  all  ages 
of  the  world's  history. 

And  yet  there  is  an  almost  universal  disposition  in 
Christendom  to  ignore  or  set  at  nought  these  teach- 
ings, at  least,  in  their  absolute  and  comprehensive 
form,  both  within  and  without  the  pale  of  the  nomi- 
nal Church  —  a  widely-prevailing  habit  of  lowering 
Christ's  standard  of  personal  righteousness  in  order 
to  accommodate  it  to  what  is  deemed  possible,  neces- 
sary, practicable,  or  expedient,  under  existing  condi- 
tions and  circumstances  of  human  life  on  the  earth. 
This  is  sometimes  done  by  open  denial  of  their  truth- 
fulness and  authority,  but  more  frequently  by  explain- 
ing "away  whatever  in  the  Master's  precepts  and 
example  seems  too  radical,  stringent,  or  extreme  for 
convenient  practice ;  too  high  and  holy  to  be  avail- 
able at  the  present  stage  of  human  development. 
Some  do  this  on  the  naked  plea  that  the.  Gospel 
requirements  are  at  present  utterly  impracticable 
if  not  impossible,  though  admitting  that  they  are 
right  and  true  in  the  abstract,  and  destined  to  become 
the  supreme  rules  of  thought  and  conduct  at  some 
future  period,  in  this  world  or  the  next.  Others  do 
it  on  the  theological  ground  that  we  must  not  exalt 
works  above  grace  in  the  divine  economy  of  redemp- 
tion, or  infringe  upon  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  the 
merits  of  Christ  by  magnifying  the  importance  of  ordi- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  9 

nary  human  duty  —  of  what  are  termed  good  ivorks. 
Still  others  rely  on  exegesis  and  philology,  or  on  the 
hypothesis  of  harmonizing  New  Testament  ethics 
with  those  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  in  this  way 
reducing:  the  real  sisfnificance  of  Christ's  words  to 
the  low  level  of  their  worldly  or  carnal  heart's 
desire. 

But  none  of  these  pleas  or  excuses  are  admissible. 
We  must  be  careful  to  ascertain  the  essential  mean- 
ing of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles  in  all  their  recorded 
sayings,  and  to  giv-e  these  sayings  a  just  construction. 
Having  done  this,  we  must  be  equally  careful  not  to 
strain  them  in  any  direction  from  the  line  of  their 
true  purpose  and  intent.  We  must  take  them  with 
all  possible  sincerity,  in  spirit  and  in  substance  as 
they  are  —  as  they  came  from  the  thought  of  their 
authors,  not  as  our  convenience,  pleasure,  prejudices, 
or  wishes  would  have  them  to  be.  One  of  two  things 
is  certain  ;  either  the  personal  righteousness  enjoined 
by  Christ  and  the  early  promulgators  of  his  Gospel 
is  higher,  nobler,  more  perfect  than  that  of  Judaism 
or  of  any  other  known  religion  of  the  world,  or  it  is 
of  no  distinctive,  vital  importance  whatever,  as  tJic 
great  power  of  moral  and  spiritual  redemption  among 
men.  When  one  extols  Christian  piety  and  morality 
as  pre-eminently  excellent  and  glorious,  yet  reduces 
the  Christian  standard  of  duty  to  God  and  man  to 
the  same  level  with  that  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
or  with  those  of  the  Brahmins,  Budhists,  Mohamme- 
dans, Stoics,  and  worldly  philosophers,  he  had  better 
drop  from  his  ethical  vocabulary  the  differentiating 
term,  Cliristiau  ;  for  he  has  robbed  it  of  its  essential 


10  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

meaning.  It  has  become  to  him  a  mere  catchword  ; 
sound,  and  nothing  more. 

But  it  is  my  province  and  present  task  to  show 
that  the  personal  righteousness  of  Primitive  Chris- 
tianity is  sni  generis,  pecuHarly  and  radically  distinct- 
ive ;  transcendently  profound  and  of  unrivalled 
excellence  ;  superior  to  that  of  any  other  religion  or 
philosophy  which  has  ever  arrested  the  attention  or 
received  the  approval  and  reverence  of  the  human 
race.  In  doing  this,  I  shall  adopt  the  familiar  method 
of  considering  personal  righteousness  under  two 
heads,  to  wit  :  —  Piety  and  Morality,  and  treat  each 
of  these  branches  of  the  main  subject,  respectively, 
by  itself,  and  with  all  needful  detail. 

Piety,  as  I  understand  it,  includes  all  duties  relat- 
ing especially  or  mainly  to  God  and  divine  things  ; 
morality,  all  duties  relating  especially  or  mainly  to 
fellow-human  beings  and  correspondingly  created 
things.  But  whatever  distinctions  of  the  nature 
indicated  are  made  for  purposes  of  illustration  and 
as  an  aid  to  the  understanding,  it  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  all  the  duties  pertaining  to  personal  right- 
eousness, whether  of  piety  or  of  morality,  are  one 
in  their  essential  quality  and  belong  to  the  same 
inseparable  whole.  They  all  have  the  same  divine 
origin  ;  they  rest  upon  the  same  impregnable  founda- 
tions ;  they  are  animated  by  the  same  vital  spirit  ; 
and  they  all  tend  to  the  promotion  and  achievement 
of  the  same  grand  object  or  consummation.  They 
are  designed  and  calculated  to  secure  and  make  for- 
ever enduring  the  highest  welfare  and  happiness  of 
individuals,  families,  communities,  townships,  states, 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  11 

and  nations,  aye,  of  the  whole  world  of  humanity  ; 
and,  in  their  widest  reach  and  dominion,  of  the  entire 
universe  of  souls.  Every  morally  right  volition, 
desire,  feeling,  word,  deed,  or  course  of  action,  agrees 
with  and  tends  to  advance  the  greatest  possible  good 
of  every  sentient  creature  in  the  whole  vast  realm  of 
existence.  Nothing  can  be  absolutely  and  everlast- 
ingly right  which  does  not  contemplate  and  regard 
this  as  its  great  crowning  end  and  aim.  All  human 
duties  originate  in  God,  the  infinite  power,  wisdom, 
goodness, —  the  great  uncreated  One,  "of  whom, 
through  whom,  and  to  whom  are  all  things;  and  to 
whom  be  glory  forever."  As  a  sure  and  impregnable 
foundation,  they  rest  upon,  as  they  grow  out  of,  the 
everlasting  divine  law  and  upon  the  immutable  prin- 
ciples of  the  moral  world,  which  show  us  that  the 
universe  is  one  and  indivisible  ;  that  all  beings  and 
things  belong  to  and  form  a  part  of  the  same  com- 
plete whole ;  that  they  have  a  common  origin,  a 
common  welfare,  and  a  common  purpose  ;  and,  conse- 
quently, that  the  highest  good  of  each  is  the  highest 
good  of  all  and  promotes  the  universal  happiness  ;  — 
while  what  harms  one  harpns  all  beside  and  thrills 
with  a  pang  of  distress  and  woe  the  whole  boundless 
hierarchy  of  sentient  being.  As  a  logical  and  moral 
correlative  of  this,  the  vital  animating  spirit  which 
should  pervade  all  the  duties  of  life  must  be  love  ; 
that  love  which  "  worketh  no  ill  "  to  any  but  seeketh 
the  good  of  all  ;  which  "  suffereth  long  and  is  kind;" 
which  **envieth  not,"  "  vaunteth  not  itself,"  "seeketh 
not  her  own,"  "  thinketh  no  evil  ;"  and  which  "  never 
faileth." 


12  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

Thus  we  find  that  in  the  wonderful  constitution  of 
the  world  and  universe  there  is  at  the  head  of  all 
beings  and  things,  ruling  over  all  and  holding  in  His 
sure  hand  the  destiny  of  all,  the  universal  Father, 
loving  all,  caring  for  all,  seeking  the  welfare  and  hap- 
piness of  all ;  who  alone  is  wise  and  far-seeing  enough 
to  perceive  and  to  require  what  is  necessary  to  the 
good  and  happiness  of  each  individual  soul  and  of 
the  entire  commonwealth  of  souls  in  this  and  in  all 
possible  worlds.  Under  Him,  as  the  great  mediato- 
rial Teacher  and  the  most  authoritative  Revealer  of 
the  Father's  will  and  requirement,  His  is  well-beloved 
Son,  Jesus,  who  is  called  the  Christ,  resting  all 
absolute  personal  righteousness  upon  and  summing 
up  all  human  duty  in  the  two  fundamental  command- 
ments, ''Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind  :    Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

Thus  our  theme  opens  before  us  as  it  were  a  vision 
of  surpassing  moral  grandeur  and  sublimity.  One 
supreme  and  all-perfect  God,  the  universal  Father, 
to  be  worshiped  and  adored ;  one  vast  family  of 
moral  and  spiritual  beings  to  be  loved,  benefited,  and 
blest ;  one  universal  good  to  be  sought  and  pro- 
moted ;  and  one  unspotted  personal  righteousness,  as 
related  to  the  Father  and  the  great  brotherhood,  to 
be  cherished  and  exemplified. 

"  See  the  sole  bliss  Heaven  could  on  all  bestow  ! 
Which  who  but  feels  can  taste,  but  thinks  can  know; 
Yet  poor  with  fortune,  and  with  learning  blind, 
The  bad  must  miss  ;  the  good,  untaught,  will  find;  — 
Slave  to  no  sect,  who  takes  no  private  road, 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  IB- 

But  looks  through  nature  up  to  nature's  God  : 
Pursues  that  chain  which  links  th'  immense  design, 
Joins  heaven  and  earth,  and  mortal  and  divine  ; 
Sees  that  no  being  any  bliss  can  know, 
But  touches  some  above,  and  some  below  ; 
Learns  from  the  union  of  the  rising  whole 
The  first,  last  purpose  of  the  human  soul : 
And  knows  where  faith,  law,  morals  all  began, 
All  end,  in  love  of  God  and  love  of  man." 

"  Self-love  thus  pushed  to  social,  to  divine, 
Gives  thee  to  make  thy  neighbor's  blessing  thine. 
Is  this  too  little  for  thy  boundless  heart? 
Extend  it ;  let  thine  enemies  have  part ; 
Grasp  the  whole  worlds  of  reason,  life  and  sense, 
In  one  close  system  of  benevolence; 
Happier  as  kinder,  in  whate'er  degree, 
And  height  of  bliss  but  height  of  charity. 
God  loves  from  whole  to  parts ;  but  human  soul 
Must  rise  from  individual  to  the  whole. 
Self-love  but  serves  this  virtuous  mind  to  wake. 
As  the  small  pebble  stirs  the  peaceful  lake; 
The  center  moved,  a  circle  straight  succeeds. 
Another  still,  and  still  another  spreads  ; 
Friend,  parent,  neighbor,  first  it  will  embrace. 
His  country  next,  and  next  all  human  race  : 
Wide  and  more  wide  th'  overflowings  of  the  mind 
Take  every  creature  in,  of  every  kind; 
Earth  smiles  around,  with  boundless  bounty  blest, 
And  Heaven  beholds  its  image  in  his  breast." 

—  Fope^ 


DISCOURSE    II. 

PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIAN  PIETY:  PART  1. 

'■The  hour  cometh  and  now  is,  when  the  true  worshippers 
shall  worship  the  Father  in  Spirit  and  in  truth ;  for  the  Father 
seeketh  such  to  worship  him.  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that 
worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth." — John  iv. 
23,  24. 

All  religions  proclaim  a  God.  All  religions  enjoin 
divine  worship  ;  that  is,  acts  and  exercises  of  devo- 
tion and  praise.  All  religions  require  piety  of  their 
confessors  ;  in  other  words,  they  declare  obligations 
to  God  to  be  met,  and  duties  to  be  discharged  toward 
Him.  The  Primitive  Christian  religion  is  like  others 
in  these  respects.  It  also  enjoins  and  requires  many 
of  the  same  obligations  and  duties  prescribed  by 
other  religions,  especially  that  of  Moses  and  the 
Jewish  prophets.  It  gives  no  countenance  or  sup- 
port to  any  form  of  Atheism,  Pantheism,  Agnosti- 
cism, or  irreligious  skepticism  and  incttfference.  It 
does  not  resolve  the  Diety  into  an  impersonal,  unin- 
telligent, infinite  abstraction  ;  nor  represent  Him  as 
mere  force,  without  conscious  will  or  purpose  in  His 
activities;  nor  regard  Him  as  blind,  passionless  law, 
with  no  interest  in,  thoughtfulness  for,  or  love  of, 
the  beings  and  things  which  come  into  existence  and 
are  preserved  through  His  agency  and  care.      It  does 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIAXITY.  15 

not  teach  the  inutility  of  forms  of  worship,  of  prayer, 
and  exercises  of  devotion  ;  nor  make  the  religious 
impulses  and  aspirations,  native  to  the  soul  of  man, 
aimless  and  meaningless  in  respect  to  the  Eternal 
One.  Its  God  is  a  real,  living  being  —  the  uncreated, 
omnipresent,  omnipotent,  all-wise,  all-loving  Father 
Spirit.  The  manifestations  of  its  piety  are  definite, 
positive,  unmistakable.  But  that  piety  has  cer- 
tain peculiarities  —  certain  transcendent  excellences, 
which  distinguish  it  from  that  of  any  and  all  other 
religions,  and  which  make  it  superior  to  that  of  any 
and  all  others  ;  not  as  to  its  original  essence  and  ele- 
mentary basis  in  human  nature,  but  as  to  its  spirit 
and  modes  of  practical  expression  in  the  characters 
and  lives  of  men  and  in  the  religious  institutions  of 
the  world.  It  seems  to  me  to  include  all  that  is  good 
in  the  piety  of  other  religions,  to  exclude  all  that  is 
evil  or  mischievous  in  them  ;  also  to  correct  the 
errors  they  embody  and  supply  their  deficiences  ;  in 
short,  to  be  a  perfect  piety.  What  then  are  its  dis- 
tinguishing peculiarities  and  excellences.''  I  answer, 
I.  It  is  a  perfectly  rational  piety.  It  is  in  happy 
accord  with  the  perfect  theology  already  considered 
and  approved,  and  with  the  impartial  and  incontro- 
vertible conclusions  of  an  enlightened  understanding. 
It  has  in  it  nothing  of  meaningless  formality,  super- 
stition, or  fanaticism.  The  profoundest  impulses  of 
the  religious  sentiment  and  the  freest  decisions  of 
the  unbiased  judgment  blend  harmoniously  in  its 
normal  manifestations.  The  God  and  Father  whom 
it  recognizes  and  adores  is  faultlessly  worthy  of  the 
love,  worship,  and  devotion  it   cheerfully  and  spon- 


16  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

taneously  renders  to  Him,  while  the  motive,  spirit,, 
use,  and  method  of  every  duty  it  embodies,  exert  a 
most  purifying  and  elevating  effect  upon  the  hearts 
and  lives  of  men. 

2.  The  primitive  Christian  piety  is  characterized 
by  unaffected  sincerity,  simplicity,  and  spirituality. 
It  acts  from  pure  love,  reverence,  and  conscientious- 
ness towards  God,  and  discharges  its  various  duties 
to  Him,  not  to  be  seen  and  honored  of  men,  not  with 
worldly  pomp  and  display,  not  with  hypocritical  or 
merely  formal  sanctimoniousness  ;  but  always  in 
spirit  and  in  truth,  independently  of  time,  place,, 
circumstance,  or  artificial  accompaniment. 

3.  It  is  a  thoroughly  radical,  comprehensive,  and 
uncompromising  piety.  It  is  not  superficial  and 
time-serving,  assumed  for  occasions  and  designed  to 
hide  unseemliness  and  guilt  ;  but  it  goes  down  to 
the  very  roots  of  human  nature  —  to  the  center  of 
motive,  thought,  purpose,  and  action,  to  make  them 
pure  and  irreproachable.  It  extends  its  divinely 
authorized  sway  over  all  human  affections,  wills, 
reasoning  faculties,  and  over  all  the  conscious, 
voluntary  exercise  of  those  endowments,  to  hold 
them  steadfast  to  high  aims  and  subservient  to 
God's  holy  will.  It  allows  no  rival  to  the  divine 
Ruler  of  the  world  in  any  department  of  human 
responsibility.  He  is  supreme  in  all  things.  No  man 
can  serve  two  masters.  Such  is  the  decree  of  primi- 
tive Christian  piety,  and  so  sweeping  and  imperative 
is  the  obligation  it  lays  upon  the   souls  of  men. 

4.  It  is  a  purely  unselfish  piety  on  God's  part  — 
is  never  required  for  His  sake,  as  though   He  needed 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  17 

anything  ;  never  as  profiting  Him  at  man's  expense  ; 
but  always  as  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  man  ;  — 
never  as  an  end  in  itself,  but  as  means  to  a  grand 
moral  end  —  the  highest  individual,  social,  and 
universal   good. 

5.  It  is  a  perfectly  philanthropic,  humane,  benefi- 
cent, and  Christ-like  piety.  It  requires  man  so  to 
exercise  himself  in  all  its  duties  that  he  may  become 
thereby,  in  spirit,  in  character,  and  in  conduct,  like 
his  God,  like  his  Savior,  and  like  the  angels  in 
heaven.  It  teaches  that  one  cannot  love  God  and 
hate,  despise,  injure,  or  neglect  his  fellow-men  ;  that 
as  he  treats  them  he  will  be  judged  to  have  treated 
his  and  their  heavenly  Father ;  and  that  all  the 
forms  and  ceremonies  of  worship,  faith,  or  devotion 
in  which  he  may  engage,  are  to  be  regarded  as 
solemn  mockery  if  he  does  not  love  and  seek  to 
bless  those  about  him  and  all  mankind;  if  he  obey 
not  the  second  great  commandment  as  well  as  the 
first. 

That  I  have  not  stated  these  distinctive  peculiari- 
ties of  Primitive  Christianity  too  strongly  is  evident 
from  the  recorded  sayings  and  examples  of  Christ 
and  his  Apostles.  Let  us  examine  a  few  of  these 
and  see  if  I  am  correct  ;  beginning  with  the  remark- 
able conversation  between  Jesus  and  the  woman  of 
vSamaria  as  given  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  John's 
Gospel.  Our  text  is  an  essential  part  of  it.  The 
cjuestion  of  the  proper  place  of  worship  was  intro- 
duced by  the  latter.  '•  Our  fathers  worshipped  in  this 
mountain,"  ( Gerizim )  she  remarked,  "and  ye  say 
that  in  Jerusalem   is  the  place  where  men   ought   to 


18  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

worship";  the  implication  being  that  it  must  be  ren- 
dered in  some  consecrated  locality, —  in  some  temple 
reared  for  such  service.  But  the  divine  Teacher 
replies,  Not  so,  not  exclusively  or  necessarily  here  or 
there.  God  is  not  a  bodily  presence,  localized  for  the 
adoration  of  His  creatures  in  some  sacred  mount  or 
sanctuary.  Neither  is  He  a  despotic,  deific  sovereign, 
exacting  burdensome  sacrifices  of  his  subjects. 
*'God  is  a  Spirit,"  everywhere  present,  and  the  all- 
loving  Father  of  Spirits.  "  The  hour  cometh  and 
now  is  when  the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the 
Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth  ;  for  the  Father  seeketh 
such  to  worship  him."  Wherever  thou  art,  O  man, 
there  God  is — above,  around,  within  thee  —  thy 
Father  and  thy  Friend.  Be  honest  and  truthful  vvith 
thyself,  desiring  to  see  thyself  and  all  things  only  in 
the  light  of  His  countenance;  then  will  thy  Father 
make  thee  conscious  of  His  presence  wherever  thou 
art,  and  there  thou  mayest  worship  Him  acceptably. 

Paul's  testimony  is  to  the  same  effect.  In  his 
bold,  impressiv^e  discourse  on  Mars  Hill,  as  reported 
in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  the  book  of  Acts,  he 
said:  "God  that  made  the  world  and  all  things 
therein,  seeing  that  he  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth, 
dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands,  neither  is 
worshiped  with  men's  hands  as  though  he  needed 
anything,  seeing  he  giveth  to  all  life,  and  breath, 
and  all  things ;  and  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth, 
and  hath  determined  the  times  before  appointed  and 
the  bounds  of  their  habitation  ;  that  they  should 
seek  the   Lord,   if    haply  they  might   feel  after  him 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  19 

and  find  him,  though  he  is  not  far  from  any  one  of 
us;  for  in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being ;  as  certain  of  your  own  poets  have  said, 
For  we  are  also  his  offspring."  —  Ac/s  xv'u  .  24-28. 
Such  inspiring  and  uplifting  doctrine  is  worthy  to  be 
inscribed  in  letters  of  sunlight  on  the  face  of  the 
skies. 

But  hear  Jesus  again  :  "  When  thou  prayest,  thou 
shalt  not  be  as  the  hypocrites  are  ;  for  they  love  to 
pray  standing  in  the  synagogues  and  in  the  corners 
of  the  streets,  that  they  may  be  seen  of  men.  Verily, 
I  say  unto  you  they  have  their  reward  :  But  thou, 
when  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when 
thou  hast  shut  thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father  which  is 
in  secret,  and  thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret  shall 
reward  thee  openly.  But  when  ye  pray,  use  not  vain 
repetition  as  the  heathen  do,  for  they  think  they 
shall  be  heard  for  their  much  speaking.  Be  not  ye 
therefore  like  unto  them  ;  for  your  Father  knoweth 
what  things  ye  have  need  of  before  ye  ask  him."  — 
MatL  vi  .  5-8.  The  real  spirit  and  meaning  of  this 
passage  are  to  the  effect  that  we  are  not  to  fool- 
ishly think  we  can  give  information  to  God  or  move 
Him  by  sounding  words,  a  multitude  of  phrases,  and 
empty  repetitions.  He  knows  all  things  and  is 
always  disposed  to  bless  His  earthly  children.  The 
use  of  prayer  is  not  to  instruct  Him,  not  to  change 
His  disposition  or  His  purpose,  nor  to  induce  Him  to 
do  what  otherwise  would  be  left  undone,  but  to  put 
one's  self  into  accord  with  His  holy  will  and  into 
communion  with  His  spirit,  that  He  may  be  enabled 
to  receive,  appreciate,  enjoy,  and  magnify  His  divine 


20  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

goodness  and  become  the  agency  or  medium  for  com- 
municating that  goodness  to  others  and  for  making 
it  triumphant  on  earth  as  it  in  heaven.  Following 
this  instruction  is  that  model  form  of  adoration  and 
petition  commonly  called  TJie  Lord's  Prayer,  which 
though  brief,  is  most  comprehensive  and  significant  ; 
so  much  so  as  to  receive  the  reverent  admiration  of 
enlightened  Christians  in  all  lands  and  times,  and 
of  many  devout  souls  beside. 

In  the  same  connection  Jesus  also  said,  *'  More- 
over, when  ye  fast,  (a  mode  of  worship  in  his  day  ) 
be  not  as  the  hypocrites  of  a  sad  countenance  ;  for 
they  disfigure  their  faces  that  they  may  appear  unto 
men  to  fast.  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  They  have 
their  reward.  But  thou,  when  thou  fastest,  anoint 
thy  head  and  wash  thy  face,  that  thou  appear  not 
unto  men  to  fast,  but  unto  thy  Father  which  is  in 
secret  ;  and  thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret  shall 
reward  thee  openly." — Matt.  \\ .  16-18.  Nothing  in 
the  various  observances  and  exercises  of  devotion  is 
more  justly  reprehensible  in  the  estimate  of  rational, 
truth-loving  minds,  or  more  odious  to  pure  and  spirit- 
ually-quickened hearts,  than  sanctimonious  display, 
artificial  devices,  unnatural  tones,  cant  phrases,  mean- 
ingless genuflections,  and  the  whole  long-drawn-out 
routine  of  hollow,  illusory  solemnities.  Ignorant  and 
superstitious  mortals  may  be  deluded  and  even  awe- 
stricken  by  such  exhibitions,  but  not  intelligent  and 
truly  devout  men  and  women.  To  such  they  are 
an  offense,  as  they  are  to  God.  Jesus  was  pre- 
eminently reverent  and  prayerful  ;  but  his  praying 
and    reverential    formalities   were    observed    for    the 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  21 

most  part  in  secret  —  in  the  solitude  of  his  closet  or 
of  his  own  heart,  or  in  some  mountain  retreat  when 
he  was  alone  with  his  Maker  ;  in  strict  conformity  to 
his  preceptive  teachings.  In  public  he  avoided  all 
fictitious  religious  appearances,  all  sanctimonious 
airs,  and  was  a  living  illustration  of  simple,  unaf- 
fected, earnest,  natural  piety.  No  wonder  then  that 
he  rebuked  the  popular  religionists  of  his  day  for 
their  notoriously  ostentatious  and  hypocritical  forms 
and  expressions  of  reverential  feeling  and  faith  in 
God,  and  that  he  imperatively  charged  his  followers 
to  shun  their  evil  examples;  as  when  he  said,  "The 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  sit  in  Moses'  seat ;  all  there- 
fore whatsoever  they  bid  you  observe,  that  observe 
and  do,  but  do  not  ye  after  their  works,  for  they  say 
and  do  not."  "All  their  works  they  do  to  be  seen 
of  men.  They  make  broad  their  phylacteries,  and 
enlarge  the  borders  of  their  garments,  and  love  the 
ui)permost  rooms  at  feasts,  and  the  chief  seats  in 
the  synagogues,  and  greetings  in  the  markets,  and  to 
be  called  of  men.  Rabbi,  Rabbi.  But  be  not  ye 
called  Rabbi  (  Master  )  for  one  is  your  Master,  even 
Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren."  "  He  that  is  great- 
est among  you  shall  be  your  servant.  And  whoso- 
ever shall  exalt  himself  shall  be  abased  and  he  that 
humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted."  —  JMatt.  xxiii  . 
2,   3,   5-8,    II,    12. 

l^ut  while  jesus  denounced  all  forms  of  pompous 
and  pretentious  devvition,  all  false  and  arrogant 
assumptions  of  religious  interest  and  zeal,  he  by  no 
means  underestimated  the  impj.'tanco  of  the  tiuly 
devotional  spirit  or  suffered  his  disciples   to    content 


22  PRLMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

themselves  with  a  barren,  semi-atheistic,  unreligious 
secularism,  as  if  that  was  sufficient  for  all  man's 
moral  and  spiritual  needs,  and  for  the  attainment  of 
the  great  ends  of  existence,  as  contemplated  in  the 
primal  and  grandly  beneficent  purpose  of  the  infinite 
Creator.  How  did  he  magnify  and  emphasize  the 
first  great  commandment,  closely  connecting  it  with 
the  second,  and  linking  the  two  in  indissoluble  rela- 
tionship as  indispensable  concomitants  of  each  other 
and  equally  essential  parts  of  the  great  whole  of 
human  duty  and  obligation  !  A  certain  Pharisee 
captiously  asked  him  on  a  particular  occasion, 
"  Master,  which  is  the  great  commandment  in  the 
law  ?  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul  and 
with  all  thy  mind.  This  is  the  first  and  great  com- 
mandment. And  the  second  is  like  unto  it  ;  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  two 
commandments  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets."  — 
Matt,  xxii .  36-40.  Here  we  have  the  primitive 
Christian  piety  placed  in  its  proper  relationship  to 
true  and  pure  morality.  The  two  are  expressed  in 
simplest  terms,  made  to  blend  in  perfect  harmony 
together,  and  seen  to  be  divinely  ordered  counter- 
parts or  complements  of  each  other.  The  heart 
represents  the  emotional  department  of  human 
nature  —  the  affections  or  love-powers  —  the  desires^ 
impulses,  ambitions,  passions,  that  cluster  in  the 
breast.  The  soul  may  be  regarded  as  standing  for 
the  department  of  the  will  —  for  those  powers  and 
capacities  which  are  employed  in  determining  one's 
life-ideals    and    in    shaping    to    them    the    character 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  23 

and  destiny.  While  the  mind  typifies  man's  intel- 
lectual capacities — reflection,  reason,  the  judgment, 
and  the  understanding.  So  we  see  that  Christ's 
piety  implies  and  demands  the  exercise  of  each  and 
all  of  the  endowments  or  possibilities  resident  in 
these  several  departments  of  one's  being,  the  affec- 
tions, the  judgment,  and  the  will,  in  the  direction 
and  for  the  development  of  love  to  God.  No  one 
of  them  is  to  be  selfishly  employed,  or  allowed  to 
set  itself  up  as  an  idol,  to  which  any  or  all  others 
are  to  bow  in  subjection.  All  are  to  be  regulated 
and  controlled  by  a  loving,  reverent  giving  of  them- 
selves to  God. 

Loving  God,  moreover,  implies  not  merely  admira- 
tion for  His  being  and  personality,  but  for  His  moral 
attributes,  qualities,  and  character;  for  His  will,  law, 
and  government  ;  in  fine,  for  all  that  is  heavenly  and 
divine  ;  for  all  beings  and  things  that  He  loves  ;  —  it 
is,  in  fact,  coming  into  the  mind  and  heart  of  God 
and  sharing  His  intrinsic  life.  It  implies  furthermore, 
confidence  in  His  goodness,  wisdom,  providence  —  a 
trust  that  knows  no  doubt  or  fear.  Hence  the 
injunction  ;  "Be  not  over-anxious,  saying,  what  shall 
we  eat,  or  what  shall  we  drink,  or  wherewithal  shall 
we  be  clothed  ?  For  your  heavenly  Father  knoweth 
that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things.  But  seek  ye 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and 
all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  —  Matt,  vi  . 
25,  32,  33.  In  that  blessed  assurance  the  truly  pious 
heart  finds  peaceful  content  and  joy  unspeakable. 
So  it  was  with  Christ.  Seeking  not  his  own  will  but 
the  will  of  Him  that  sent  him,  resisting  all  temptations 


24  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

to  mere  self-gratification,  giving  himself  in  a  grand 
disinterestedness  to  the  work  of  uplifting  and  redeem- 
ing the  world,  holding  conscious  fellowship  with  his 
Father  and  our  Father,  he  could  say  even  in  the  face 
of  the  dreadful  cross,  "  Not  my  will  but  thine  be 
done."  And  the  subordinate  teachers  of  the  Gospel 
followed  their  great  Leader,  in  this  regard,  with  con- 
scientious fidelity,  as  their  preserved  testimonies 
abundantly  prove.  These  are  all  summed  up  in 
the  exhortation  of  the  chiefest  of  them  all.  "  What- 
soever ye  do,  do  it  heartily  as  unto  the  Lord,  and 
not  unto  men."  —  Col.  iii .   23. 

It  appears  finally  from  what  has  been  said  that 
primitive  Christian  piety  neither  implies  nor  requires 
on"  the  part  of  the  truly  devout  anything  except  what 
will  help  and  bless  both  the  souls  and  bodies  of  man- 
kind. All  are  to  prove  themselves  to  be  the  true, 
filial,  dutiful  children  of  the  infinite  Father,  by  being- 
true,  loving,  helpful,  brethren  of  each  other.  This 
is  clearly  taught  in  the  solemn  dramatic  parable  of 
the  judgment,  which  makes  mercy  and  helpfulness  to 
needy,  suffering  humanity  the  ground  of  divine 
approval,  and  the  neglect  thereof  the  ground  of  con- 
demnation. The  judge  in  that  impressive  scene 
assumes  the  self-forgetting,  generous  attitude  of  one- 
ness with  the  humblest  of  those  before  him  ;  saying, 
Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it,  or  did  it  not,  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it,  or  did  it  not,  unto 
me,  and  retributive  sentence  of  approbation  or  of  repro- 
bation, of  reward  or  of  punishment,  is  passed  accord- 
ingly. And  John,  the  beloved  disciple,  who  seems 
to  have  entered   more  fully  into  the   heart  of  Christ 


AND    ITS    CORRUI^TIOXS.  25 

than  any  of  his  fellows,  gives  us  the  consensus  of 
the  Apostolic  teaching  to  the  same  effect,  in  the 
striking  passage  ;  "If  a  man  say,  I  love  God,  and 
hateth  his  brother,  he  is  a  liar.  For  he  that  loveth 
not  his  brother  whom  he  hath  seen,  how  can  he  love 
God  whom  he  hath  not  seen  ? "  — JoJui  iv.   20. 

Such  is  the  transcendently  excellent  and  perfect 
piety  of  Primitive  Christianity  as  I  find  it  taught 
and  exemplified  by  Jesus  and  his  Apostles.  It  will 
receive  further  explication  and  illustration  in  my 
next  discourse. 

What  mind  illumed  by  reason's  quickening  rays, 

What  heart  inspired  by  heaven-descended  grace, 

What  soul  that  lives  to  noble  aims  and  ends, 

But  piety  so  pure  and  true  commends  ! 

No  empty,  lifeless  forms  it  consecrates, 

Nor  superstition's  altars  decorates  ; 

No  grim  austerity  doth  it  approve. 

But  pure  devotion  winged  by  faith  and  love. 

All  solemn  artifice  that  cheats  the  crowd, 

All  costly  pageantry  to  please  the  proud. 

And  all  display  that  courts  the  gaze  of  man. 

It  deems  perverse  and  puts  beneath  its  ban. 

No  narrow  superficial  claim  it  makes  ; 

No  liberty  with  human  folly  takes  ; 

But  sways  its  royal  scepter  far  and  wide. 

Wherever  feelings  stir  or  thoughts  abide, 

Commanding  mind  and  heart  and  soul  and  will, 

As  unto  God,  all  duties  to  fulfill. 

The  love  of  man  is  joined  to  love  of  God, 

Owning  the  sacred  bond  of  brotherhood  ; 

And  no  one  can  the  Father's  smile  receive 

Whose  malice,  scorn,  and  hate,  his  fellows  grieve; 

Vox  those  who  serve  and  worship  him  aright, 

Must  in  the  good  of  all  mankind  delight. 


26  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY. 

O  blessed  Christ,  whose  words  and  actions  taught 

A  worship  with  supernal  honors  fraught, 

When  shall  thine  own  ideal  Church  arise 

To  lead  the  world  to  thee  —  to  harmonize 

Our  warring  race,  and  with  thy  holy  leaven 

Of  grace  and  truth,  make  of  this  earth  a  heaven? 

Give  thou  us  minds  that  we  may  clearly  see 

What  are  the  duties  that  we  owe  to  thee  ; 

And  hearts  of  love,  to  work  and  watch  and  pray : 

Helpers  of  thee,  to  bring  that  triumph  day 

When  all  earth's  divers  kingdom  shall  be  thine, 

Replete  with  holiness  and  bliss  divine. 


DISCOURSE   in. 

PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIAN  PIETY:  PART  2. 

"  I  beseech  you,  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,^ 
that  ye  present  yo.ur  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable 
unto  God,  which  is  your  reasonable  service.  And  be  not  con- 
formed to  this  world:  but  be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing 
of  your  mind,  that  ye  may  prove  what  is  that  good,  and  accept- 
able, and  perfect  will  of  God."  —  /^om.  xii.  i,  2. 

The  mercies  of  God  are  so  tender,  loving,  innu- 
merable, and  universal,  that,  if  we  could  justly  com- 
prehend and  appreciate  them,  we  should  instinctively 
and  spontaneously  love  Him  with  all  our  hearts,  and 
devote  ourselves,  soul  and  body,  with  every  faculty 
of  our  natures,  a  living  sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable 
unto  Him.  And  this  would  seem  to  us  "our  reason- 
able service."  It  would  under  such  circumstances 
be  our  highest  ambition  and  supreme  endeavor,  not 
to  conform  ourselves  to  this  world's  desires,  customs, 
fashions,  and  multiform  idolatries,  but  to  be  trans- 
formed in  our  ruling  loves,  principles,  and  spirit,  by 
true  regeneration  so  as  to  prove,  experimentally  and 
practically,  the  perfection  of  God's  will.  That  will 
is  infinitely  benevolent  and  wise.  It  is  the  only  reli- 
able guide  to  virtue  and  happiness  ;  because  it  is  the 
only  sure  and  trustworthy  indication  of  what  is  for 
the  highest  permanent  good  of  His  creatures,  individ- 
ually,   socially,    collectively,    and     universally.      The 


28 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 


pure  primitive  Christian  piety  assures  us  that  it  is 
supreme  over  all  creature  wills,  and  requires  us  to 
reverence  it  with  the  profoundest  love,  confidence, 
and  devotion.  I,  therefore,  in  the  preceding  dis- 
course, pronounced  it  a  perfect  piety,  giving  a  par- 
tial exposition  of  it  and  promising  farther  elucidation 
and  illustration  in  the  present  one.  I  can  best  fulfill 
this  promise,  perhaps,  by  considering  explicitly  how 
•  it  supplies  the  deepest  wants  of  human  nature  and 
how  indispensable  it  is  to  the  salvation  of  the  world 
from  sin  and  misery,  and  to  its  ultimate  attainment 
of  universal  holiness  and  happiness. 

What  then,  I  ask  to  begin  with,  are  the  deepest 
wants  of  our  nature  ?  To  know  what  is  absolutely 
right  and  best  for  us,  all  things  considered  ;  to  be 
established  from  principle  in  the  love  of  what  is  right 
and  best  above  every  competing  attraction,  and  to 
obtain  the  spiritual  strength  necessary  to  act  out 
our  highest  convictions  of  duty,  in  regard  thereto. 
Many  are  ignorant  of  what  is  right  and  best,  and  so 
offend  and  are  miserable.  Others  though  more 
enlightened  are  not  principled  in  the  love  of  what  is 
right  and  best,  and  so  rush  headlong  or  slide  imper- 
ceptibly but  surely  into  sin  and  wretchedness. 
Others  still  fail  of  holiness  and  happiness,  through 
inability  to  resist  temptation,  to  act  up  to  noble  con- 
victions, and  to  overcome  evil  in  themselves  and 
others  with  good.  Now  true  Christian  piety  supi)lies 
these  several  wants  as  nothing  else  can.  How  ?  By 
bringing  us  into  vital  communion  with  an  all-perfect 
heavenly  Father  who  knows  what  is  absolutely  right 
and  best  for  us,  who  delights  in  communicating  that 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  29" 

knowledge  to  us,  who  is  constantly  by  His  spirit  seel<- 
ing  to  influence  us  to  the  love  of  it,  and  whose  own 
divine  strength  for  the  attainment  of  the  highest 
and  noblest  objects  in  life  is  always  available  to  sup- 
plement and  reinforce  our  mortal  weakness.  There- 
fore, to  love  Him  with  our  whole  heart,  soul,  and 
understanding,  so  that  we  have  no  rival  love  for  any 
being  or  thing,  but  confide  implicitly  in  Him,  bring- 
ing us  into  living  relations  with  Him,  insures  our 
progress  in  holiness  and  happiness  unto  final  perfec- 
tion. It  is  thus  and  only  thus  that  we  can  be  pre- 
pared to  receive  that  spirit  which  will  lead  us  into  all 
divine  truth  and  become  our  ever-present  Guide, 
Reprover,  Sanctifier,  and  Comforter.  Discarding 
this  piety,  we  cut  ourselves  loose  from  our  heavenly 
Father,  ignore  or  contemn  our  natural  filial  relation- 
ship to  Him  and  the  help  we  thereby  derive  from  Him, 
and  rely  upon  our  own  self-sufficiency.  The  result 
must  needs  be  failure.  For  the  simple  reason  that 
our  j-6'^-sufficiency  is  //^sufficiency.  All  the  faculties 
and  capabilities  of  our  nature  were  derived  from 
God,  are  not  self-existent,  are  finite  and  dependent, 
and  have  no  inherent  ability  either  to  sustain  or 
wisely  regulate  themselves.  Every  one  of  them  is 
good  in  itself  if  kept  in  its  proper  place  and  held  to 
its  proper  office;  but  productive  of  evil  if  disorderly 
and  out  of  place,  according  to  the  extent  of  abuse. 
And  the  only  safeguard  against  abuse  is  this  very 
piety  which  binds  us  with  indissoluble  bonds  of  rev- 
erential love  to  our  heavenly  Father,  so  insuring  us 
a  su[)ply  for  our  deepest  wants  in  this  regard  —  the 
needful  restraint  and  guidance  —  by  the  unobstructed 


30  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

influx  of  His  holy  Spirit.  Whatever  prevents  or 
hinders  this  divine  inflowing  from  the  source  of  all 
good,  as  reliance  on  our  own  sufficiency  does,  works 
mischief  and  misery  to  us. 

This  leads  us  to  consider  how  indispensable  the 
piety  of  Christ  is  to  the  salvation  of  the  world. 
Why  is  there  so  much  wretchedness  and  woe  in  the 
world  ?  Primarily  and  chiefly  because  of  the  sinful- 
ness therein.  And  why  so  much  sinfulness  .'*  For 
the  reason  that  mankind  are  alienated  from  the  one 
only  living  and  true  God  and  wedded  to  idols.  And 
what  are  those  idols  ?  There  are  legions  of  them. 
Whatever  we  prefer  to  our  heavenly  Father  is  an 
idol  to  us  ;  our  real  deity.  For  we  cannot  serve  two 
or  more  masters.  The  one  we  hold  dearest  rules 
us  —  is  our  idol.  It  may  not  be  an  image  of  wood, 
stone,  or  precious  metals,  after  the  fashion  of  heathen 
peoples  ;  nor  any  being  or  thing  formally  consecrated 
as  an  object  of  worship;  yet  none  the  less  is  it  an 
idol.  It  demands  what  the  Most  High  forbids,  and 
we  reverence  and  obey  it  more  than  we  do  Him.  It 
competes  with  Him  for  our  hearts,  and  we  give  them 
to  it  rather  than  to  Him.  It  conflicts  with  His  will 
and  we  yield  it  the  homage  which  is  His  due. 
Everything  of  this  nature  is  practical  idolatry,  what- 
ever professions  we  make  or  ceremonies  we  keep. 

Pagan  Rome  had  a  splendid  temple  called  the 
Pantheon  ;  that  is,  the  Sanctuary  of  all  the  Gods  ; 
deemed  by  Pliny  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  ancient 
world.  The  recognized  divinities  of  the  then  pre- 
vailing polytheism  were  represented  in  its  images  or 
symbols.      Modern    civilization   claims    to    have    out- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  31 

grown  all  forms  of  mythologic  superstition,  especially 
the  worship  of  idols.  But  it  has  only  metamor- 
phosed and  somewhat  refined  the  idolatry  of  bygone 
days.  What  are  the  popular  egoism  and  the  multi- 
plied forms  of  self-seeking  it  engenders  and  repre- 
sents but  a  vast  Pantheon  subjectively  existent  in 
the  human  mind,  wherein  unnumbered  false  gods  are 
set  up  and  adored  ?  But  let  me  particularize  some- 
what and  bring  to  notice  some  concrete  examples  of 
what  I  have  in  my  mind  regarding  the  idolatry  of 
modern  life,  and, 

I.  What  is  Pleasure  but  a  many-faced  idol,  receiv- 
ing continually  the  adulation  and  homage  of  immense 
throngs  of  votaries.?  By  pleasure,  I  mean,  not  inno- 
cent reaction  or  amusement,  not  the  reasonable 
gratification  of  any  natural  desire,  taste,  or  emotion 
of  the  human  mind,  heart,  bodily  sense,  or  appetite, 
held  to  its  legitimate  uses  ;  but  that  artificial  self- 
exhilaration,  or  delight  which  comes  of  some  tem- 
porary excitation  of  feeling  or  stimulant  out  of  the 
line  of  the  divine  order  of  the  world,  and  not  con- 
sonant with  the  permanent  good  and  happiness  of 
him  who  experiences  it  or  of  others.  Nor  do  I 
mean  that  satisfaction  and  enjoyment  which  are  sub- 
ordinate to  and  harmonious  with  the  will  of  God,  the 
love  of  righteousness,  and  the  joy-crowned  fruits  of 
well-doing.  But  I  mean  pleasure  for  its  own  sake, 
as  the  leading  object  of  human  pursuit  and  the  great 
end  of  life.  To  seek  pleasure  after  this  fashion  is 
what  I  deem  a  reprehensible  form  of  idolatry,  what 
I  call  pleasure  worship.  Is  not  the  world,  even  in 
its    most    advanced    portions,    })ermeated    wMth    this 


32  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

unhallowed  devotion  to  false  ideals  —  with  this  wor- 
ship of  a  false  and  treacherous  divinity  ?  Behold 
the  wide-spread  eagerness  to  see  and  hear  some  new 
and  fascinating  thing,  to  furnish  the  appetites  and 
tastes  with  some  fresh  gratification,  to  multiply  the 
means  by  which  the  desires,  the  imaginations,  the 
passions  of  men  are  indulged  and  enchanted  !  What 
multitudes  seem  to  live  chiefly  to  be  entertained, 
amused,  or  regaled  with  some  sport,  game,  play,  or 
other  form  of  merry-making,  as  if  life  was  a  gala-day, 
a  frolic,  a  masquerade  ;  a  revel,  perhaps  a  carousal, 
a  saturnalia,  and  not  a  rich  boon  from  the  Giver  of 
all  good,  a  solemn  trust  freighted  with  grave  and 
grand  responsibilities,  a  field  for  noble  service  and 
lofty  endeavor,  a  glorious  opportunity  for  gaining, 
by  the  way  of  duty  and  sacrifice,  of  love  to  God  and 
man,  immortal  honors  and  rewards. 

Beside  the  natural  wants  of  man,  which,  in  the 
divine  economy,  are  duly  provided  for,  such  provis- 
sion  affording  ample  opportunity  for  legitimate  and 
guileless  enjoyment,  a  host  of  artificial  ones  have 
been  created  by  the  fertile  ingenuity  of  the  human 
mind,  adding  nothing  to  the  diginity,  worth,  or  glory 
of  the  noblest  product  of  the  handiwork  of  God,  but 
rather  detracting  therefrom  ;  many  of  them  clamor- 
ous as  hungry  wolves  for  their  appropriate  satisfac- 
tion and  its  attendant  relish  and  delight.  Among 
these  are  found  marvelous  varieties  of  the  distinctive 
forms  of  idolatry  under  notice,  from  the  most  vulgar, 
brutish,  and  repulsive,  to  those  that  are  highly  intel- 
lectual, refined  and  aesthetic,  and  hence  less  worthy 
of    reprehension.       On    the    one    hand,    we    behold 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  33 

drunkenness,  gluttony,  and  debauchery;  bull-baiting, 
prize-fighting,  and  horse-racing ;  —  on  the  other, 
epicurean  feasting,  genteel  revelry,  and  fashionable 
display ;  sensational  literature,  empty  oratory,  and 
even  religious  buffoonery  and  jugglery. 

By  such  agencies  as  these  and  through  such  instru- 
mentalities does  pleasure  exercise  its  ignominious 
sway  and  hold  fast  to  itself  its  willing,  deluded 
devotees.  For  the  time  being,  pleasure  over- 
rides all  other  considerations  and  reigns  a  god 
supreme. 

And  with  what  results  ?  What  are  the  fruits  of 
these  manifold  forms  of  diversion  and  pleasure  seek- 
ing ?  Disease  of  body,  unsoundness  of  mind,  per- 
version of  the  moral  sensibilities — a  partial  or  total 
degradation  of  character,  and  a  greater  or  less  dis- 
qualification for  the  higher  pursuits  and  the  more 
sacred  responsibilities  of  life.  Not  infrequently  is  it 
ignorance,  poverty,  vice,  crime,  wretchedness,  mani- 
fold forms  of  human  debasement,  a  loosening  of 
the  bonds  of  domestic  and  social  order,  a  letting 
down  of  the  moral  and  religious  tone  of  the  commu- 
nity, a  sensible  deterioration  of  both  private  and 
public  character  in  general  society  and  throughout 
the  body  politic  ;  universal  demoralization. 

And  what  is  the  remedy.'*  A  penitent  return  to  the 
Father  like  that  of  the  prodigal  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment story  —  the  piety  which  Christ  taught  and 
exemplified.  We  must  learn  that  self-denial,  priva- 
tion, toil,  and  pain  are  often  better  for  us  than 
pleasure  —  that  we  must  even  abstain  in  order  to 
enjoy  ;  that  the  cross  ensures   the  crown  ;   and   that 


34  •  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

God's  righteousness  must  be  held  supreme  over  all 
other  claims  and  delights. 

2.  We  next  come  into  the  presence  of  another 
great  idol  with  its  multitude  of  worshipers,  viz.: 
self-will.  Proclaim  God's  will,  law,  and  order  — 
absolute  right  and  the  highest  good  of  all  beings,  and 
there  is  protest  if  not  rebellion.  In  every  direction 
dissent  arises,  saying  in  thought  if  not  in  words  ;  "I 
know  best ;  I  have  a  will  of  my  own  ;  I  shall  take 
my  own  course  and  risk  the  consequences  ;  I  am  not 
to  be  crossed,  bridled,  restrained  ;  I  am  bound  to 
live  as  I  please."  To  one  thus  minded,  religion  is 
nothing,  reason  is  nothing,  the  bitter  experiences  of 
a  thousand  generations  are  nothing,  Christ  is  nothing, 
God  himself  is  nothing.  Against  the  conceit  and 
self-deification  of  such  persons  the  most  solemn  con- 
siderations are  of  no  account.  They  rush  upon 
their  own  destruction  and  are  overwhelmed  with 
misery  before  they  can  be  brought  to  say  in  humble 
submission  "Not  my  will  but  thine,  O  God,  be  done." 
Yet  there  is  no  salvation  for  them  without  coming 
to  this.  To  worship  the  selfish  will-god  is  a  ca- 
lamitous infatuation. 

3.  Popularity,  or  Love  of  Applause,  is  another 
deceitful,  dangerous  idol  ;  less  malignant  and  odious 
than  self-will  but  more  seductive  and  enslaving  in 
its  influence  over  its  myriads  of  devotees.  To  be 
admired  by  fellow-beings,  to  be  distinguished  among 
them,  to  have  their  commendation  and  praise,  seems 
to  be  one  of  man's  organic  loves,  a  ruling  passion  in 
his  breast.  No  doubt  it  is  a  good  impulse  in  itself 
and  has  a  sphere  of  rightful   exercise  and  of  worthy 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  35 

use  in  human  life.  But  that  must  be  in  strict  subor- 
dination to  the  divine  law  and  to  the  highest,  most 
comprehensive  good.  The  moment  it  transcends 
this  limit  it  becomes  a  bewitching  idol.  And  such  it 
is  to  multitudes  in  almost  every  department  of 
individual  and  social  life.  Given  supremacy,  it  is 
prolific  of  a  vast  bevy  of  evil  ambitions  and  emula- 
tions; of  servile  conformity  to  hurtful  fashions, 
customs,  and  habits  ;  of  vain  and  extravagant  dis- 
play ;  of  rivalry,  intrigue,  and  deceit  ;  of  pompous 
parade  and  hypocrisy  ;  and  sometimes  of  ridiculous 
sycophancy  and  clownish  dissimulation.  We  find 
more  or  less  of  it  almost  everywhere,  in  all  grades  of 
society,  among  all  kinds  of  people.  Its  ruling  motive 
is  "to  be  seen  of  men  "  ;  to  be  noticed,  applauded, 
honored,  rendered  popular,  or  perhaps  notorious.  It 
loves  the  praise  bf  men  more  than  the  approval  of 
God  and  a  good  conscience.  "  It  prefers,"  as  Lord 
Mansfield  says,  "the  shouts  of  a  mob  to  the  trumpet 
of  (immortal)  fame."  What  are  its  fruits  .^  Artifi- 
ciality, duplicity,  hypocrisy,  demoralization,  —  mani- 
fold forms  of  vice  and  consequent  misery.  And 
mankind  are  to  be  saved  from  this  kind  of  idolatry 
and  its  attendant  evils  only  by  the  power  of  that 
pure  piety  which  exalts  God  above  all  other  objects 
of  worship,  and  deems  His  approval  of  more  value 
than  all  possible  human  admiration,  applause,  and 
glorification. 

4.  Another  conspicuous  idol  of  our  day  and  time, 
disputing  the  supremacy  of  the  Infinite  Spirit,  is 
Wealth,  known  in  heathen  mythology  as  Mammon, 
to  whom  America  in  large  degree  and  all   the  world 


36  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

payeth  homage.  Jesus  truly  said  "  Ye  cannot  serve 
God  and  Mammon  "  ;  and  Paul  as  truly  called  covet- 
ousness,  another  name  for  mammon-worship,  idolatry. 
Every  one  seems  ready  to  condemn  and  denounce 
this  form  of  impiety,  but  few  are  ready  to  forsake  it. 
Like  the  fox  in  the  fable  men  cry  "sour  grapes" 
respecting  wealth  beyond  their  reach,  but  clutch 
with  eager  grasp  all  that  they  can  lay  hands  upon. 
Nevertheless,  when  avarice,  or  love  of  money,  or  greed 
of  worldly  gain,  sets  God,  His  righteous  law,  and  the 
welfare  of  mankind  at  nought,  it  is  fraught  with 
great  peril  to  character  and  to  the  higher  interests  of 
society.  "  God  and  his  righteousness "  must  be 
sought  first,  and  property  of  whatever  sort,  earthly 
possessions,  afterward.  We  must  neither  acquire, 
hoard  up,  or  expend  money  or  other  goods  in  contra- 
vention of  the  requirements  of  the  two  great  com- 
mands, of  the  golden  rule,  of  our  own  and  our 
family's  permanent  good,  or  of  the  good  of  any 
human  being.  If  this  leaves  us  no  liberty  to  idolize 
property,  or  to  wrongfully  obtain  or  use  it,  this  is 
just  what  the  primitive  piety  of  the  Gospel  suggests, 
what  we  all  need,  and  what  the  world  must  come  to 
in  order  to  its  salvation  from  that  type  of  selfishness 
which  the  worship  of  mammon  represents,  and  which 
is  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  human  degradation  and 
misery.  In  that  blessed  consummation  which  will 
realize  to  every  man  the  adequate  supply  of  his 
every  necessity  and  bind  all  the  race  of  man  together 
in  the  bonds  of  a  common  brotherhood,  all  material 
possessions  will  be  regarded  as  belonging  virtually  to 
God,  to  be  husbanded  and  disposed  of  by  men  as  His 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  37 

Stewards,  in  such  a  way  that  none  shall  suffer  want 
and  none  have  or  desire  more  than  they  can  use 
wisely  for  the  promotion  of  their  own  and  others 
good,  for  the  dissemination  of  the  truth,  and  for  the 
building  up  of  the  divine  kingdom  on  the  earth. 

5.  Men  make  an  idol  of  Power, —  of  dominion 
and  authority  over  fellow-human  beings.  They  not 
only  admire,  honor,  pay  homage  to  those  who  occupy 
positions  of  authority,  dictation,  and  command,  but 
aspire  to  such  positions  for  themselves.  The  desire 
to  govern,  to  bear  rule,  to  exercise  control  over 
others,  is  a  very  strong  passion  in  many  people ; 
and  to  do  so  not  by  reason,  persuasion,  personal 
influence  and  example,  or  scrupulous  adherance  to 
what  is  true  and  right,  but  by  arbitrary  power,  by 
autocratic  domination,  by  artful  cunning,  by  shrewd 
management,  or,  if  need  be,  by  sh'^er  compulsion, 
threats  of  violence,  or,  in  the  last  resort,  by  the  iron 
hand  ;  for  purposes  of  self-exaltation  and  to  gain  a 
wider  and  more  absolute  sway.  This  idolatry  finds 
notable  exemplification  in  despots  and  tyrants,  both 
on  thrones  and  in  social  life,  in  aristocrats  and  dema- 
gogues, in  party  leaders  and  aspirants  for  office  on 
the  common  plane  of  political  ambition  and  strife. 
Devotees  at  this  shrine  must  be  at  the  top,  must 
occupy  places  of  dominion,  must  govern,  by  fair 
means  or  foul,  open  or  covertly,  singly  or  in  company 
with  others.  Their  determination  is  to  rule,  to  carry 
their  own  particular  plans  or  measures,  to  secure 
what  they  deem  right,  proper,  expedient  ;  **  peaceably 
if  they  can,  forcibly  if  they  must."  Such  idolatry 
as  this  is  largely  prevalent.      Hut  it  is  not  consistent 


38  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

with  the  perfect  love  of  God  and  man.  It  is  not  con- 
sistent with  the  idea  of  human  brotherhood.  It  is 
not  consistent  with  any  of  the  larger  interpretations 
of  the  Christian  Gospel.  It  is  of  the  carnal  mind, 
not  of  the  spiritual.  This  world,  under  the  impulse 
of  worldly  ambitions  and  purposes,  will  have  it  so  ; 
and  having  it  so,  millions  suffer  and  groan  under  the 
burden  of  those  monstrous  sins  and  sorrows  which 
such  idolatry  —  such  ambitions  and  purposes  generate 
and  perpetuate.  And  there  is  only  one  remedy  — 
only  one  way  of  salvation  for  those  thus  affected  ; 
the  embrace  and  exemplification  of  the  piety  of 
Christ,  in  conformity  with  the  spirit  of  the  precept, 
"  Whosover  will  be  great  among  you  let  him  be  your 
servant." — Matt.  xx.   27. 

6.  Closely  related  to  the  particular  type  of  idola- 
try just  spoken  of —  that  of  personal  exaltation  and 
dominion  —  is  that  of  blind  devotion  to  the  interest, 
will,  exaltation,  and  glory  of  groups  of  fellow-creat- 
ures to  whom  we  are  strongly  attached  and  with 
whom  we  are  closely  connected  by  some  natural  or 
organic  relationship.  The  most  prominent  of  these 
attached  and  closely  related  groups  are  the  family, 
the  social  club,  the  philanthropic  or  other  order,  the 
political  party,  the  church  or  denomination,  the  state, 
and  the  nation.  These  several  groups  may  be  and 
are  in  themselves  natural,  innocent,  and  justifiable. 
In  all  of  them  there  are  duties  which  God  lays  upon 
those  forming  them,  from  the  least  of  them  to  the 
greatest,  and  from  all  conditions  and  classes  of 
human  beings.  All  such  duties,  however  peculiar 
and    special,    are    consistent    with    all    other    duties. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  39 

whether  towards  God,  man,  or  the  universe.  If  they 
are  more  immediately  beneficent  to  some,  they  are 
remotely  so  to  others,  and,  while  injuring  none,  pro- 
mote the  good  of  all.  The  scrupulous  performance 
of  them  is  therefore  loyalty  to  God  and  the  dictate 
of  true  piety.  But  when  love  and  devotion  to 
family,  club,  order,  party,  church,  state,  or  nation, 
take  the  place  of  and  supersede  loyalty  to  God  and 
to  the  absolute,  eternal,  divine  law,  so  that  we  support, 
stand  by  and  defend  them,  right  or  zvrong  \  when  we 
are  led  to  lie,  defraud,  extort,  persecute,  injure,  maim, 
kill,  or  in  any  way  disobey  God  and  set  His  law  at 
defiance  for  their  sake,  what  are  we  but  idolaters  of 
a  most  pronounced  and  reproachable  type !  And 
what  are  these  associated  organic  bodies  but  the  real 
idols  of  our  hearts,  whom  we  worship  and  adore  to 
the  practical  exclusion  from  His  proper  throne  of  the 
great  Ruler  of  the  world  and  Father  of  the  spirits 
of  all  flesh  }  Is  not  the  world  thereby  contaminated, 
perverted,  led  far  astray  from  the  true  object  of 
worship  and  from  its  own  real  well-being  and  happi- 
ness ?  And  is  not  the  piety  of  Christ  indispensably 
necessary  to  its  deliverance  in  this  regard  .-^ 

7.  One  more  group  of  the  world's  idols  I  must 
not  omit  to  mention  —  the  most  grim,  horrible,  and 
deceitful  of  all.  Chiefest  of  those  forming  this 
group  are  brute  force,  deadly  combat,  warlike  hero- 
ism, destruction  of  enemies,  vindictive  punishment, 
persecution  of  heretics,  penal  infliction,  and  physical 
violence  under  various  injurious  forms.  These  false 
gods  are  worshiped  more  or  less  slavishly  by  almost 
tlie  entire  human   race.      Hence  war,  wrath,  cruelty, 


40  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

and  all  manner  of  terrible  evils  kindred  thereto,  roll 
their  dark,  angry  billows  over  the  four  quarters  of 
the  globe,  deluging  the  earth  with  blood  and  destroy- 
ing uncounted  multitudes  of  the  children  of  men. 
The  abominations,  the  calamities,  the  miseries  thus 
caused  cannot  be  estimated  by  human  calculation. 
God,  by  His  son  Jesus  Christ,  forbids  all  this  hate- 
ful, deplorable  idolatry.  But  the  world,  even  the 
most  civilized  portions  of  it,  still  clings  to  it  tena- 
ciously, unwilling  to  abandon  it,  unwilling  to  be 
taught  a  better  way.  It  delights  in  this  state  of 
things,  preferring  it  and  the  spirit  of  barbarism  which 
gives  it  birth  to  that  required  perfect  love  of  God 
and  man  which  worketh-no  harm  to  any  one,  which 
suffereth  long  and  is  kind,  and  which  overcomes  evil 
only  with  good.  The  pure  piety  of  Christ  is  the 
only  remedy  for  this  almost  universal  adoration  and 
homage  paid  to  brute  force  and  its  kindred  deities, 
and  an  essential  pre-requisite  to  the  bringing  in  of  the 
long-deferred  reign  of  amity,  brotherhood,  and  peace. 
It  is  the  same  cure-all  that  is  needed  for  all  the 
multiform  idolatries  that  have  supplanted  the  worship 
of  the  one  only  living  and  true  God  in  the  experience 
of  mankind  and  multiplied  the  agonies  and  desola- 
tions that  afflict  the  world.  Whatever  men  love  and 
serve  instead  of  their  heavenly  Father  as  first  and 
foremost  in  their  regard,  enslaves,  degrades,  imbrutes 
them,  and  renders  them  miserable.  Where  their 
treasures  are,  their  hearts  are,  and  there  they  them- 
selves are,  soul  and  body,  "worshiping  the  creature 
more  than  the  Creator"  —  wretched  idolators,  pierc- 
ing themselves   through  with   many  sorrows.     What 


AND    ITS    CORKUPTIONS.  41 

we  worship  fashions  our  characters  and  rules  our 
lives.  If  we  worship  the  One  supreme  Perfect  All- 
Father  we  are  clothed  upon  with  His  divine  attri- 
butes, we  take  upon  ourselves  His  image,  we  enter 
into  His  life  and  His  peace,  and  His  life  and  peace 
enter  into  us.  If  we  worship  the  idols  I  have  named 
or  any  other,  we  so  far  turn  away  from  the  Infinite 
One,  disregard  His  will,  despise  His  commandments, 
and  quench  His  spirit  ;  we  also  turn  away  from  the 
life  and  peace  impersonated  in  Him  and  communica- 
ble to  us,  if  we  will  have  them,  and  make  insane  war, 
not  only  against  the  universal  good,  but  against  our 
own  highest  welfare.  If  we  give  God  and  His  right- 
eousness our  undivided  and  unswerving  allegiance, 
the  loving  loyalty  of  our  very  souls,  we  are  in  pos- 
session of  primitive  Christian  piety.  This  alone,  as 
the  vital  source  of  all  virtue,  and  holiness,  and  happi- 
ness, can  renew  and  transfigure  the  world  and  make 
of  it  the  earthly  province  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
The  renunciation  of  all  idolatries  is  the  only  hope 
of  the  race.  Clinging  to  them  there  is  no  deliverance 
for  it  from  the  seething  abyss  of  its  follies  and  woes. 
If  it  be  said  that  this  cannot  be  done,  that  man  is 
wedded  to  his  idols  and  will  not  give  them  up,  will 
not  embrace  and  illustrate  the  piety  of  Christ,  my 
only  reply  is  that  he  must  continue  to  suffer  the 
consequences  of  his  disloyalty  and  impiety  till  he 
repents  and  puts  away  his  sin  and  guilt.  But  will 
you  and  I,  my  friends,  to  bring  the  matter  to  a  per- 
sonal application  —  will  we  remain  bound  in  the 
prisonhouse  of  the  world's  heathenish  practices,  the 
slavish    devotees    of    false    gods  .^      Will    we     reject 


42  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY, 

Christ  and  that  pure  piety  of  his  which  enabled  him 
to  say,  "  It  is  my  meat  and  my  drink  to  do  the  will 
of  him  that  sent  me"?  Heaven  forbid  such  revolt 
against  the  Highest  on  our  part,  and  prompt  each 
and  every  one  of  us  to  exclaim  in  deep  contrition 
and  with  full  purpose  of  soul, 

"The  dearest  idol  I  have  known, 

Whate'er  that  idol  be, 
Help  me  to  tear  it  from  thy  throne 

And  worship  only  thee." 


DISCOURSE    IV. 

CORHUPTIONS    OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIAN   PIETY: 
PART  I. 

IN    RELATION    TO    WOHSIIIP. 

"  God  that  made  the  world  and  all  things  therein,  seeing  that 
he  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made 
with  hands,  neither  is  worshipped  with  men's  hands  as  though 
he  needed  anything,  seeing  he  giveth  to  all  life  and  breath  and 

all  things."     Acts  xvii  .  24,  25. 

I  have  endeavored  in  a  preceding  chapter  to  set 
forth  clearly  the  distinctive  peculiarities  and  excel- 
lences of  pure,  primitive  Christian  Piety,  naming 
several  important  particulars,  to  wit  :  i.  It  is  a 
perfectly  rational  piety;  2.  It  is  a  perfectly  sincere, 
unostentatious,  and  spiritual  piety  ;  3.  It  is  a  per- 
fectly radical,  comprehensive,  and  uncompromising 
piety  ;  4.  It  is  a  perfectly  unselfish  piety  on  God's 
part  ;  5.  It  is  a  perfectly  philanthropic,  humane,  bene- 
ficent, and  Christ-like  piety.  I  proceed  now  to  show 
that  this  piety  has  been  grossly  corrupted  in  certain 
cardinal  respects.  One  of  these  I  propose  to  treat 
in  the  present  discourse  —  that  respecting  worship. 
This  may  be  conveniently  done  under  four  heads, 
viz.  :  the  nature  of  worship  ;  the  design  of  worship  ; 
the  expression  of  worship  ;  and  the  sanctuaries  of 
worship. 


44  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

I.  The  nature  of  worship.  As  I  have  already 
attempted  to  show,  Christ  and  his  Apostles  carefully 
taught  that  the  only  true  worship  of  God  is  essen- 
tially moral  and  subjective  —  the  "worship  of  the 
Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  It  consists  in  nothing 
of  a  material  nature  offered  to  God ;  in  nothing  done 
for  or  said  to  him.  In  this  particular  it  was  essen- 
tially different  from  Jewish,  Samaritan,  and  Gentile 
practices  of  early  Christian  days.  It  consists  in 
love,  adoration,  prayer,  thanksgiving,  and  other  holy 
emotions  cherished  towards  the  infinite  Father  Spirit, 
and,  through  these,  in  fellowship  with  him.  In  other 
words,  it  is  a  sacred,  intercommunication  between 
each  soul  and  its  Maker  ;  which  derives  no  worth 
from  time,  place,  companionship,  or  external  demon- 
stration, and  which  can  be  judged  as  to  its  value  only 
by  its  moral  effects  upon  the  character  and  life  of  the 
worshiper.  Such  must  be  the  truest,  purest,  highest 
worship.  Jesus  not  only  taught  such  worship  but  was 
its  most  illustrious  exemplar.  The  Apostles  and 
many  of  the  early  disciples  tried  hard  to  be  their 
Master's  faithful  followers  in  this  matter.  But  their 
fidelity  provoked  the  obloquy  and  most  bitter 
reproaches  of  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  about  them. 
The  former  accused  them  of  apostasy  from  the  sac- 
rificial rites  of  Moses,  and  the  latter  of  atheism. 
Dr.  Mosheim,  the  great  ecclesiastical  historian  says  ; 
"  Another  circumstance  which  irritated  the  Romans 
against  the  Christians  was  the  simplicity  of  their 
worship,  which  resembled  in  nothing  the  sacred  rites 
of  any  other  people.  They  had  no  sacrifices,  tem- 
ples, images,  oracles,   or  sacerdotal   orders  ;  and   this 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  45- 

was  sufficient  to  bring  upon  them  the  reproaches  of 
an  ignorant  multitude  who  imagined  that  there  could 
be  no  religion  without  these.  Thus  they  were  looked 
upon  as  a  sort  of  atheists  ;  and  by  the  Roman  laws 
those  who  were  chargeable  with  atheism  were 
declared  the  pests  of  human  society."  So  the  very 
excellence  of  their  worship  became  a  ground  of  the 
world's  persecution.  But  this  was  during  the  first  and 
second  centuries.  It  did  not  last  long.  Not  because 
of  any  change  in  the  character  or  spirit  of  the  foes 
of  Christianity,  but  on  account  of  the  falling  away  of 
the  Christians  themselves  from  their  original  lofty 
standard  in  this  particular. 

The  apostasy  or  corruption  of  the  Primitive  Chris- 
tian piety  commenced  even  in  apostolic  times.  A 
party  of  Jewish  disciples  arose,  who  were  so  zealous 
for  the  ceremonial  law  that  they  could  not  tolerate 
the  more  catholic  minded  Paul,  and  insisted  that 
all  the  converted  Gentiles  should  be  required  to  con- 
form to  the  Levitical  ordinances.  This  caused  the 
first  contention  in  the  infant  church  and  resulted  at 
length  in  an  open  schism.  The  Mosaic  sacrificial  wor- 
ship was  regarded  as  sacred  by  one  party,  while  the 
other  held  that  the  new  faith  wholly  superseded  it,  ren- 
dering it  utterly  null  and  void.  Yet  the  latter  ere  long 
yielded  to  the  inroads  of  corruption  in  another  guise. 
The  second  century  had  not  closed  before  the  demo- 
cratic, fraternal  order  of  church  government  was 
changed  by  gradual  processes  into  a  nascent  episco- 
pacy, with  ambitious  ecclesiastics  in  power.  Dr. 
Mosheim  says;  "There  is  no  institution  so  pure  and 
excellent  which  the  corruption  and  folly  of  man  will 


46  PRIMITIVE    THRISTIANITY 

not  in  time  alter  for  the  worse  and  load  with  addi- 
tions foreign  to  its  nature  and  original  design.  Such 
in  a  particular  manner  was  the  fate  of  Christianity. 
In  this  century  many  unnecessary  rites  and  cere- 
monies were  added  to  the  Christian  worship,  the 
introduction  of  which  was  extremely  offensive  to 
wise  and  good  men.  These  changes,  while  they 
destroyed  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  the  Gospel, 
were  naturally  pleasing  to  the  gross  multitude,  who 
are  more  delighted  with  the  pomp  and  splendor  of 
external  institutions  than  with  the  native  charms  of 
rational  and  solid  piety."  "There  is  a  high  degree 
of  probability  in  the  notion  of  those  who  think  that 
the  bishops  augmented  the  number  of  rites  in  the 
Christian  worship,  by  way  of  accommodation  to  the 
infirmities  and  prejudices,  both  of  Jews  and  heathens, 
in  order  to  facilitate  their  conversion  to  Christianity." 
This  work  of  deterioration  and  corruption  pro- 
gressed rapidly  as  time  went  on.  In  the  fourth 
century  it  reached  such  a  pitch  that  the  famous 
St.  Augustine,  who  struggled  in  vain  against  it, 
declared  that  "the  yoke  under  which  the  Jews 
formerly  groaned  was  more  tolerable  than  that 
imposed  upon  many  Christians  "  in  his  day.  "  Hence  " 
says  Dr.  Mosheim,  "it  happened  in  those  times,  that 
the  religion  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  differed  very 
little  in  its  external  appearance  from  that  of  the 
Christians.  They  both  had  a  most  pompous  and 
splendid  ritual  ;  gorgeous  robes,  mitres,  tiaras,  wax 
tapers,  crosiers,  processions,  lustrations,  images,  gold 
and  silver  vases,  and  many  such  circumstances  ot 
pageantry,  were  equally  to  be  seen    in    the    heathen 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  47 

temples  and  in  the  Christian  churches."  Thus  the 
corruption  went  on  from  bad  to  worse  till  the  wor- 
ship of  Christendom  became,  with  a  few  unpopular 
exceptions,  almost  as  materialistic,  sensuous,  and 
externally  showy  as  that  of  Pharisaic  Jewry,  or  semi- 
civilized  pagandom.  And  the  evil  has  come  down  to 
our  own  day,  so  sanctified  by  tradition  and  custom 
that  few  professing  Christians  even  suspect  its  utter 
incongruity  with  the  teachings  and  example  of  their 
acknowledged  Master. 

2.  The  design  of  worship  —  its  chief  aim  and  use. 
Christ  evidently  meant  to  teach  that  the  design,  aim, 
and  use  of  true  worship  are  to  spiritualize  and  moral- 
ize the  worshiper  by  bringing  him  into  closer  com- 
munion with  the  all-perfect  Father  —  thus  rendering 
him  god-like,  heavenly-minded,  and  happy.  But  this 
was  not  the  chief  object  of  the  worship  generally 
prevalent  among  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  before  his 
coming.  That  object  was  to  propitiate  God,  secure 
His  favor,  and  maintain  religious  institutions  in  the 
reverence  of  the  multitude.  Of  course,  the  incident- 
al motive  was  always  pleaded,  that  worship  promoted 
moral  restraint  and  order  among  the  people ;  and 
hence,  it  was  deemed  a  social,  political,  and  govern- 
mental necessity,  as  well  as  a  solemn  religious  duty. 
Christ  based  the  true  worship  on  no  such  grounds. 
His  God  was  "the  Father,"  who  was  inherently  and 
unchangeably  good  to  all,  even  to  the  unthankful 
and  evil.  No  worship  could  make  Him  more  so. 
He  needed  nothing  to  propitiate  Him.  His  favor 
was  as  inherent  and  irreversible  toward  all  His  off- 
spring as  His  inmost  nature.      He  only  required   His 


48  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

children  to  feel  after  Him,  seek  Him,  love  Him,  wor- 
ship and  adore  Him,  that  they  might  be  spiritually 
and  morally  like  Him  ;  that  they  might  share  His 
life,  enjoy  His  presence,  be  kind  and  helpful  to  one 
another,  dwell  together  in  harmony  and  peace,  and 
so  each  and  all  attain  the  highest  possible  perfection 
and  blessedness. 

But  it  was  not  long  before  corruption  began  to 
manifest  itself  in  this  particular.  The  Christian 
church  was  so  easily  leavened  with  Jewish  and 
heathen  notions  of  worship,  that,  by  the  time  it  was 
made  subject  to  official  and  clerical  control  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  second  century,  its  departures  from 
the  simplicity  that  was  in  Christ  had  come  to  be  not 
only  apparent  but  deplorable.  Thenceforth,  with 
minor  exceptions,  the  objects,  aims,  and  uses  of  its 
worship  were  the  same  precisely  as  those  prevailing 
in  the  ante-Christian  world  ;  viz. :  to  propitiate  God's 
wrath,  secure  His  favor,  and  hold  the  masses  by  a 
sort  of  superstitious  necromancy  to  the  reverence 
and  support  of  external  religious  institutions.  Even 
to  this  day  has  this  corruption  of  the  true  idea  of  the 
purpose  of  worship,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  pre- 
vailed. O  how  few  people  accept,  appreciate,  and 
improve  worship  as  a  heavenly  privilege,  ordained  by 
their  Father  in  heaven  for  the  sublime  purpose  of 
rendering  them  His  true  children  in  spirit,  conduct, 
moral  character,  and  divine  enjoyment!  Yet  this,  I 
repeat,  is  its  grand  aim  and  use  according  to  the 
teachings  of  Primitive  Christianity  and  the  example 
of  the  Master.  Who  will  hear,  consider,  and  act 
consistently  with  that  view  ? 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  49 

3.  The  expression  of  worship  —  in  other  words, 
its  manner  and  form.  All  the  feelings,  sentiments, 
and  emotions  of  human  nature  have  some  mode  of 
expression,  some  way  of  manifesting  themselves  in 
the  experience  of  men,  either  internally  or  externally 
or  both.  Internal  expression  is  cognizable  only  by 
one's  own  spiritual  consciousness,  by  God  and  by 
other  spiritual  intelligences  similarly  capacitated  and 
exercised.  External  expression  is  cognizable  by  the 
outward  senses  of  beings  possessing  a  physical 
organism.  True  worship,  as  Christ  defined  and 
practised  it,  is  chiefly  and  vitally  expressed  in 
secret  prayer,  adoration,  meditation,  and  mental 
exercises  of  devotion,  indulged  in  as  between  the 
worshiper  and  the  Deity  exclusively,  irrespective  of 
any  observance  or  participation  by  others.  Subordi- 
nately,  occasionally,  and  incidentally,  it  may  be 
expressed  externally,  socially,  and  publicly,  in  various 
forms  or  services  of  devotion,  including  vocal  prayer, 
singing,  and  exhortation,  which  must  be  heartfelt, 
sincere,  appropriate;  not  for  worldly  admiration, 
personal  ostentation,  or  as  unto  man,  but  unto  God. 
This  outward  worship  must  be  primarily  from 
within;  "in  spirit  and  in  truth."  I  need  not  enlarge 
on  the  original  simplicity  of  Christian  worship  in 
this  feature  of  it,  nor  on  the  corruptions  which  have 
reversed  the  positive  instructions  of  Christ  and  set 
at  nought  his  example ;  and  which  have  rendered 
much  of  what  passes  for  Christian  worship  a  solemn 
ceremonial  and  little  more  ;  a  public  exhibition 
addressed  to  the  eyes,  ears,  and  aesthetic  tastes  of 
the    attending  multitude  ;    a    sort    of    popular,  pious 


50  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

entertainment,  calculated  to  please  the  senses  and 
imagination  of  non-participating  observers.  Even 
the  more  common  and  unconventional  exercises  of 
social  worship  are  often  sadly  contaminated  with 
vitiating  elements  of  formality,  affectation,  vain 
repetition,  and  mere  noise,  which  promote  little  holy 
communion  with  God  and  serve  worldly  aims  and 
ends  rather  than  heavenly  ones.  Whether  we  criti- 
cise Catholics,  Greeks,  or  Protestants  on  this  point, 
we  may  see  the  need  of  a  radical  reform — a  return 
to  primitive  Christian  simplicity  and  purity. 

4.  The  sanctuaries  of  worship.  Finite  beings, 
clothed  in  material  bodies  and  animating  fleshly 
frames,  must  by  the  very  necessities  of  their  complex 
nature  be  somewhere  in  space  and  time,  whatever 
they  do  or  are.  If  they  worship,  even  in  secret, 
they  must  occupy  some  definite  locality ;  if  they 
worship  socially,  as  it  is  natural,  right,  fitting,  and 
mutually  helpful  for  them  to  do,  they  must  have 
some  particular,  generally  understood,  appropriate 
place  and  hour  of  meeting  and  of  devotion.  Yet,  as 
I  showed  from  the  record,  Christ  and  his  Apostles 
made  no  part  of  true  worship  dependent  on  place  or 
time,  but  wholly  on  the  right  state  of  mind  and  heart. 
Neither  in  the  temples  of  Jerusalem,  Samaria,  or  any 
other  holy  city,  was  it  necessary  to  appear  in  order 
to  render  acceptable  offerings  to  Him  who  fills 
immensity  with  His  presence,  who  need  not  be 
sought  in  any  given  locality,  and  who  hath  an  altar  in 
every  humble  and  contrite  heart.  Worship  "in  spirit 
anS  in  truth"  is  everywhere  approved  and  accepted 
of    the    Father    of    all    souls,      Any  other,    nowhere. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  51 

Holy  places,  days,  and  seasons,  are  neither  enjoined 
nor  prohibited  by  Primitive  Christianity.  Altars, 
temples,  sabbatic  institutions,  sacred  festivals,  and 
ritual  observances  were  not  forbidden  or  condemned, 
nor  were  they  held  up  for  human  reverence  as/t-r  se 
holy  in  the  sight  of  God.  They  were  utilized  as 
privileges,  worthy  of  regard  and  maintenance,  as 
means  and  conveniences  for  the  enlightenment, 
reformation,  spiritual  quickening,  and  happiness  of 
mankind.  If  they  subserved  these  ends,  it  was  well. 
But  otherwise,  if  they  were  used  as  substitutes  for 
personal  holiness,  offsets  for  acts  of  justice  and 
charity,  or  cloaks  to  hide  any  kind  of  wickedness, 
they  were  not  simply  regarded  as  of  no  account  but  as 
snares  to  the  souls  of  men.  This  is  sound  doctrine. 
So  thought  the  primitive  Christians,  and  they  prac- 
tised accordingly.  They  had  no  sacred  places,  sanctu- 
aries or  church  edifices  for  purposes  of  worship, 
religious  edification,  and  praise,  distinctively  set  apart 
and  dedicated,  for  more  than  a  century  after  they 
began  to  associate  together  as  companies  of  believers 
in  and  followers  of  Jesus, 

Dr.  Mosheim  says  on  good  authority  ;  "  The  places 
in  which  the  first  Christians  assembled  to  celebrate 
divine  worship  were,  no  doubt,  the  houses  of  private 
persons.  But  in  process  of  time  it  became 
necessary  that  these  sacred  assemblies  should  be 
confined  to  one  fixed  place,  in  which  the  books, 
tables,  and  desks  required  in  divine  service,  might  be 
constantly  kept,  and  the  dangers  avoided  which  in 
those  perilous  times  attended  their  transportation 
from  one  place  to  another.     And  then,  probably,  the 


52  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

places  of  meeting  that  had  formerly  belonged  to 
private  persons  became  the  property  of  the  whole 
Christian  community."  "  If  any  one  pleased  to  give 
the  name  of  church  to  a  house  or  the  part  of  a  house, 
which,  though  appointed  as  the  place  of  religious 
worship  was  neither  separated  from  common  use  nor 
considered  as  holy  in  the  opinion  of  the  people,  it  will 
be  readily  granted  that  the  most  ancient  Christians 
had  churches."  Again,  "  The  first  Christians  assem- 
bled for  the  purposes  of  divine  worship,  in  private 
houses,  in  caves,  and  in  vaults  where  the  dead  were 
buried.  Their  meetings  were  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  and  in  some  places  they  assembled  on  the 
seventh,  which  was  celebrated  by  the  Jews.  Many 
also  observed  the  fourth  day  of  the  week,  on  which 
Christ  was  betrayed  ;  and  the  sixth,  which  was  the 
day  of  his  crucifixion.  The  hour  of  the  day  appointed 
for  holding  these  religious  assemblies  varied  accord- 
ing to  the  different  times  and  circumstances  of  the 
church;  but  it  was  generally  in  the  evening  after 
sunset  or  in  the  morning  before  the  dawn." 

It  will  be  seen  then  from  good  historic  testimony 
that  the  primitive  Christians  had  no  specially  conse- 
crated churches  or  holy  places.  They  held  their 
religious  convocations  in  such  localities  as,  under 
their  variously  restricted  circumstances,  were  for  the 
time  being  most  safe,  convenient,  and  comfortable. 
No  great  importance  was  attached  to  places,  or  to 
times  and  seasons.  The  safety,  convenience,  and 
comfort  of  the  assembled  people,  not  costly  offerings 
to  God,  nor  worldly  display,  are  clearly  indicated  as 
the  leading  considerations  in   respect  to   assembling 


AND    ITS    CORKUPTIONS.  53 

for  religious  purposes.  This  suggests  the  ruling 
principle  on  which  all  Christians,  even  in  the  highest 
state  of  prosperity,  ought  to  act  in  the  erection  of 
edifices  for  public  worship  ;  viz.:  simplicity,  conven- 
ience, and  comfort  —  nothing  to  flatter  God,  nothing 
for  vain  glory,  and  nothing  to  astonish,  please,  and 
captivate  the  multitude. 

But  the  seductive  voice  of  the  tempter  long  ago 
whispered  triumphantly  to  the  carnally  inclined  ear 
of  professing  Christians,  saying  "  We  must  not  be 
behind  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  in  glorifying  God  or 
proselyting  the  world.  Architectural  magnificence, 
splendid  furnishing,  and  gorgeous  decorations  in  our 
church  edifices,  will  greatly  promote  both.  Our 
cause  is  worthy  of  it  and  demands  it,  and  we  shall 
be  objects  of  derision  and  contempt  without  it. 
People  will  be  attracted  to  our  gatherings  by  such 
charms;  they  will  thus  be  brought  under  Christian 
influence  ;  they  will  be  won  to  the  Gospel ;  souls  will 
be  saved  ;  and  God  will  be  honored  and  glorified." 

By  such  specious  pleadings,  extravagance,  worldli- 
ness,  and  luxury  gained  an  entrance  within  the  con- 
fines of  the  church,  and  corruption  in  a  new  form 
turned  the  hearts  of  men  away  from  the  pure  spirit 
of  the  primitive  Gospel.  Immediately  after  the  mar- 
riage of  the  church  and  state  under  Constantine  in 
the  fourth  century,  this  defection  became  most  strik- 
ing and  notorious.  Hear  Dr.  Moshcim  once  more  : 
*'  No  sooner  had  Constantine  abolished  the  supersti- 
tions of  his  ancestors,  than  magnificent  churches 
were  everywhere  erected  for  the  Christians,  which 
were  richly  adorned   with   pictures  and    images    and 


64  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  pagan  temples, 
both  in  their  outward  and  inward  form.  At  this 
time  it  was  looked  upon  as  an  essential  part  of  reli- 
gion to  have  in  every  country  a  multitude  of  churches  ; 
and  here  we  must  look  for  the  true  origin  of  what  is 
called  the  right  of  patronage,  which  was  introduced 
among  Christians  with  no  other  view  than  to  encourage 
the  opulent  to  erect  a  great  number  of  churches  by 
giving  them  the  privilege  of  appointing  the  ministers 
that  were  to  officiate  in  them." 

In  this  way  not  only  did  a  love  of  display  and 
worldly  splendor  supplant  the  humble,  unostentatious 
piety  that  characterized  the  first  disciples  but  there 
was  introduced  into  the  high  places  of  the  church, 
to  preside  at  its  altars  and  administer  its  affairs,  as 
ecclesiastics  of  various  degree,  a  class  of  persons 
who,  appointed  as  they  often  were  by  unscrupulous 
and  ungodly  patrons  of  religion  and  religious  institu- 
tions, and  subject  to  their  control,  were  unfit  for 
their  positions,  pursuing  a  policy  which  was  not  only 
in  contravention  of  the  true  idea  of  spiritual  worship 
but  which  was  calculated  to  lower  the  previously 
existing  standard  of  morality  and  allow  the  genera- 
tion and  growth  among  the  saints  of  manifold  evils 
unknown  before.  No  wonder  that  Christianity,  sub- 
jected to  so  many  corruptions,  should  in  due  time 
become  a  religion  honeycombed  with  pompous  super- 
stitions, worldly  display,  selfish  aggrandizement,  and 
persecuting  violence,  so  that  it  was  not  infrequently 
the  case  that  the  more  show  there  was  of  worshiping 
God,  the  less  manifestation  there  was  of  practical 
righteousness  ;    a  great  gulf    opening    and   widening 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  65 

and  deepening  between  what  was  called  piety  and  a 
pure  and  holy  life.  No  wonder  that  while  the 
forms  of  religion  were  kept  up  with  great  punctili- 
ousness and  at  immense  expense,  the  grossest  inhu- 
manities and  the  most  odious  iniquities  prevailed, 
even  within  the  pale  of  the  church  itself.  Many 
reforms  relating  to  the  evils  now  under  notice  have 
been  attempted  in  latter  ages,  with  some  degree  of 
success,  but  the  mania  for  grand  and  imposing 
houses  of  worship  and  for  a  splendid  display  of  reli- 
gious externals  still  prevails  in  the  predominant  and 
more  popular  sects.  And  this  form  of  corruption  is 
pitifully  contagious  and  contaminating  even  among 
those  claiming  to  be  rational,  enlightened,  liberal 
Christians,  the  society  of  Friends  and  a  few  smaller 
eccentric  religious  orders  alone  excepted.  As  to  the 
great  body  of  the  nominal  church  it  is  so  far  under 
the  dominion  of  reprehensible  doctrines,  ideas,  and 
practices,  in  the  particulars  mentioned  in  this  dis- 
course, that  a  thorough  reformation  and  cleansing 
are  indispensable  to  the  full  actualization  of  the 
primitive  Christian  ideal.  This  actualization  seems 
to  be  yet  in  the  far  distant  future,  but  I  have  the 
utmost  confidence  that  it  will  some  day  be  accom- 
plished. In  that  day,  come  it  sooner  or  later  in  the 
progressive  order  of  human  events,  will  the  true  wor- 
ship of  God,  as  it  is  taught  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
and  as  it  was  illustrated  in  the  life  of  Christ,  be 
established  in  all  churches  bearing  His  blessed  name, 
superseding  all  the  perversions  and  vain  formalities 
which  now  usurp  its  place  and  hinder  rather  than 
help  the  coming  of  the  time  when  "  Holiness  to  the 


66  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY. 

Lord"  shall  not  only  be  ascribed  to,  but  shall  vitally 
characterize  all  places,  modes,  appliances,  and  acces- 
sories of  worship;  when  *'the  mountain  of  the  Lord's 
house  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains 
and  be  exalted  among  the  hills,  and  all  nations  shall 
flow  unto  it." 

O  glorious  church  renewed,  which  yet  shall  rise, 
To  save  the  world  and  greet  the  bending  skies  ! 
Redeemed  from  all  corruption,  lo,  its  light 
Shall  banish  superstition's  dreary  night, 
Dissolve  the  treacherous  shadows  of  the  past 
And  crown  the  truth  triumphant  at  the  last. 
Then  shall  the  living  God  by  men  be  known 
Their  heavenly  Father,  as  by  Jesus  shown  ; 
Him  all  mankind  shall  worship  and  adore, 
''  In  spirit  and  in  truth  "  forevermore. 


DISCOURSE    V. 

CORRUPTIONS    OF   PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIAN   PIETY: 
PART  2. 

IN    KELATION    TO    UITKS    AND    CEHEMONIKS. 

"Are  ye  so  foolish  ?  Having  begun  in  the  Spirit,  are  ye  now 
made  perfect  by  the  tiesh  ?"  —  Ga/.  iii  .  3. 

The  pure  spiritual  piety  enjoined  by  Christ  and 
his  early  Apostles  reduced  the  rites  of  religion  to  a 
very  few  in  number  and  to  a  low  estimate  in  import- 
ance. Aside  from  frequent  meetings  for  moral  and 
spiritual  edification  and  inspiration,  the  exercises  of 
which  consisted  in  praying,  singing,  exhortation,  and 
religious  instruction,  together  with  what  were  termed 
**  feasts  of  charity,"  in  which  the  disciples  testified  to 
the  heartfelt  fellowship  and  mutual  love  existing 
between  them  by  simple  friendly  repasts  and  con- 
tributions to  the  poor  and  needy — aside  from  these 
forms  of  worship,  water-baptism  and  the  eucharist, 
or  Lord's  Supper,  seem  to  have  been  the  only  exter- 
nal observances  which  can  be  considered  as  definitely 
established  or  held  in  any  way  sacred  and  binding  in 
the  primitive  Christian  church.  The  great  majority 
of  ceremonials  and  sacrifices  regarded  with  scrupulous 
solemnity  by  the  Jews,  were  looked  upon  by  the 
Christians  as  types  and  shadows  that  were  fulfilled 
in  their  Lord,  as  greatly  exaggerated   non-essentials, 


58  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

or  as  human  inventions  of  no  practical  worth  what- 
ever. In  each  and  all  these  cases,  the  abuses  which 
had  crept  in  under  them,  subordinating  them  to  pur- 
poses of  superstition,  self-exaltation,  hypocrisy,  and 
inhumanity,  were  reprobated  and  severely  denounced. 
Baptism  by  water  was  an  inheritance  from  the  Jews,, 
among  whom  it  was  practiced  as  a  symbol  of  purifica- 
tion or  change  of  moral  life,  coming  through  John, 
the  great  baptizer  and  forerunner  of  Jesus,  and  gain- 
ing acceptance  among  Christians  as  an  initiatory  sign 
of  admission  into  the  brotherhood  of  the  new  faith, 
and  as  a  pledge  of  personal  reformation  and  of  fidel- 
ity to  the  principles  and  duties  which  that  faith 
enjoined  and  required.  The  eucharist,  or  Lord's 
Supper,  was  also  of  Jewish  origin,  having  been 
derived  from  the  ancient  feast  of  the  Passover,  which 
was  instituted  to  commemorate  the  deliverance  of 
the  Israelites  from  Egyptian  servitude,  modified  and 
recast  into  a  new  form  by  omitting  the  roasted  lamb 
and  other  accessories  of  the  old-time  rite,  thus  adjust- 
ing it  to  the  simplicity  of  the  order  of  church  life  under 
the  Christian  dispensation,  and  making  it  commemo- 
rative of  Christ,  the  paschal  Lamb  of  God,  ordained 
to  deliver  men  and  the  world  from  the  servitude  of 
sin. 

Some  religious  extremists,  and  highly  spiritualized 
transcendentalists  have  considered  water-baptism, 
the  Lord's  Supper,  and,  indeed,  all  audible  praying 
and  other  outward  forms  of  worship,  as  at  best  relics 
of  superstition  or  of  childish  and  decaying  religious 
conceptions  —  quite  vain  and  useless  if  not  absurd 
and  pernicious.    Christ  and  his  first  ministers  thought 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  6^ 

otherwise.  They  honored  those  observances  by  both 
precept  and  example  in  their  true  significance  and 
use,  but  took  good  care  to  guard  them,  so  far  as  was 
possible  under  the  circumstances,  against  all  misap- 
prehension and  abuse.  And  I  cannot  doubt,  heeding 
the  teachings  of  history,  observation,  experience, 
and  sober  reflection,  that  the  wisdom  of  God,  in  and 
through  those  personages,  sanctioned  and  sanctified 
those  observances  as  means  of  edification,  spiritual 
uplifting,  and  renewal  of  life  to  those  sincerely 
regarding  them  and  to  the  world.  At  any  rate,  I 
have  never  discovered  in  those  who  discarded  or 
neglected  them,  either  in  former  times  or  in  our  own 
day,  any  evidence  of  moral  and  spiritual  superi- 
ority,—  any  signs  of  gain  to  themselves  or  to  the 
church  or  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  holiness  on  that 
account,  but  rather  the  contrary.  I  cannot  but  feel 
that  those  persons,  as  a  rule,  who  have  for  any  reason 
disregarded  them  have  missed  some  of  the  most  efifi- 
cient  means  of  personal  religious  culture,  and  that 
those  churches  that  have  abandoned  them  or  suffered 
them  to  fall  into  abeyance,  have  surrendered  import- 
ant agencies  for  accomplishing  the  distinctive  work 
which  in  the  providence  of  God  is  given  them  to  do  ; 
for  gaining  and  retaining  a  hold  upon  the  religious 
affections  and  sensibilities  of  men,  especially  of  the 
young,  and  for  advancing  in  the  world  the  cause  of 
holiness  and  love.  This,  however,  is  not  the  place 
to  argue  the  utility  and  value  of  religious  rites  and 
ordinances.  The  present  duty  is  rather  to  expose  some 
of  the  principal  corruptions  of  Primitive  Christian 
Piety  in  its  relation  to  such  rites  and  ordinances. 


'60  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

I  have  just  said  that  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per were  the  only  external  observances  which  seem 
to  have  been  recognized  and  approved  by  Jesus,  and 
could  be  considered  as  established  ceremonials 
among  the  early  disciples.  But  there  very  soon 
arose  a  class  of  Judaizing  Christians,  referred  to  in 
a  former  discourse,  who  were  tenacious  of  all  the 
requirements  of  the  Levitical  law,  and  who  sought 
earnestly  and  perseveringly  to  engraft  those  require- 
ments upon  the  ritual  of  the  primitive  Christian 
church.  These  people  were  undoubtedly  sincere  and 
honest  in  their  views  and  endeavors.  They  were 
devotedly  attached  to  the  new  religion.  They 
believed  in  Christ  with  all  their  heart  and  in  the 
Father  whom  he  revealed,  as  they  did  in  the  princi- 
ples and  duties  which  he  inculcated.  They  suffered 
great  persecutions  from  both  unbelieving  Jews  and 
Gentiles  on  account  of  their  steadfast,  unfaltering 
Christian  faith.  But  at  the  same  time  they  could 
not  understand  the  lofty  spirituality  or  the  unosten- 
tatious simplicity  of  the  Gospel.  Nor  could  they  see 
that  Christ  had  freed  them  from  the  manifold  rites 
and  sacrifices  of  the  old  dispensation.  They  clung 
to  those  rites  and  sacrifices  from  a  mistaken  sense  of 
duty,  and,  as  they  believed  and  felt,  in  reverent 
fealty  to  God.  It  seemed  to  them  that  all  the  Gen- 
tile converts  must  come  under  the  same  yoke  of  alle- 
giance to  the  Jewish  ceremonial  in  order  to  be  true 
followers  of  the  Messiah.  He  was  himself  one  of 
the  Jewish  race,  and,  in  their  view  a  product  of  the 
Jewish  faith  —  a  new  prophet  of  that  faith  on  a 
higher  plane  and  with   a    broader  vision    than    those 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  61 

who  had  preceded  him, —  Moses,  Samuel,  Isaiah,  and 
the  rest.  But  the  earlier  Apostles  and  their  co-work- 
ers and  immediate  successors  took  more  catholic 
ground.  They  taught  that  Christ  was  "the  end  of 
the  law  for  righteousness"  to  all  his  faithful  follow- 
ers ;  that,  in  the  new  order  of  life,  **  neither  circumci- 
sion availeth  anything  not  uncircumcision  but  a  new 
creature";  that  "in  every  nation  he  that  feareth 
God  and  worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  with 
him";  and  that  there  should  be  rendered  "glory, 
honor,  and  peace  to  every  one  that  worketh  good,  to 
the  Jew  first  and  also  to  the  Gentile." 

It  is  not  strange  that  considerable  numbers  of 
people  in  that  early  time  could  not  take  this  broad, 
comprehensive,  essentially  moral  and  spiritual  view 
of  the  Christian  Gospel.  They  had  been  sedulously 
trained  to  a  different  conception,  under  a  different 
regime.  They  had  been  led  to  lay  great  stress  upon 
outward  religious  forms  and  observances.  And  they 
could  not  easily  pass  over  to  a  new  and  unprece- 
dented view  ^  to  one  seemingly  opposed  to  what 
they  had  hitherto  deemed  sacred  and  indispensable^ 
The  old  had  been  instilled  into  them  from  infancy,  it 
had  become  a  part  of  their  being  ;  the  new  had  not 
had  time  to  eliminate  it  and  take  its  place  in  their 
inner  consciousness,  or  to  assume  supremacy  on  the 
altar  of  their  lives.  If  in  our  own  day  so  few  under- 
stand the  high  spirituality  of  pure  Christian  right- 
eousness as  distinguished  from  the  external  formalities 
and  ritualisms  of  the  j^articular  sectarian  religion  in 
which  they  have  been  educated  and  upon  which  they 
have  been  fed    from    their    youth    up,  can    any  one 


62  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

wonder  that  those  old  Jewish  converts  were  similarly 
benighted  and  lost  to  the  most  sublime  characteris- 
tics of  Christian  faith  ? 

Nor  is  it  singular  that  the  main  body  of  the  church 
ere  long  fell  into  the  same  great  error  and  became 
involved  in  the  same  corruption  of  the  primitive 
doctrine  concerning  rites  and  ordinances.  In  defend- 
ing the  Old  Testament  against  the  attacks  of  the 
Gnostic  philosphers,  its  teachers  assumed,  by  way  of 
argument,  that  the  Christian  church  was  in  all  essen- 
tial respects  the  anti-type  of  the  Mosaic.  Consist- 
ently with  that  view  they  were  obliged  to  maintain 
that  its  ministry  in  its  official  character  must  be  a 
regular  priesthood,  legitimately  succeeding  to  all  the 
rights,  privileges,  and  immunities  of  the  Levitical 
sacerdotal  order,  with,  perhaps,  some  unimportant 
modifications.  Before  the  close  of  the  second  cen- 
tury this  feature  of  ecclesiasticism  began  to  display 
itself  in  a  marked  degree.  The  servants  of  the 
church,  as  Paul  was  content  to  regard  himself  and 
his  co-laboring  apostles,  became  its  lords  and  rulers, 
•assuming  unwarranted  authority  over  the  laity, 
establishing  higher  and  lower  grades  of  official  posi- 
tion and  duty  among  themselves,  from  provincial  or 
diocesan  bishops  down  to  humble  deacons  and  dea- 
conesses, governing  the  affairs  of  the  church  through 
synods  or  councils  ;  in  fact,  setting  up  a  priestly 
caste  whose  policy  it  was  to  acquire,  retain,  and  mul- 
tiply their  own  exclusive  prerogatives  and  powers. 
This  led  them  very  naturally  to  resolve  the  primitive 
Christian  rites  into  sacraments  and  holy  mysteries, 
whereby  the  common  people  might  be  kept  in  greater 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  63 

and  more  reverential  subjection  ;  as  it  did  to  increase 
the  number  of  observances  and  solemnities  within 
their  distinctive  jurisdiction. 

From  this  time  forth  baptism  no  longer  preserved 
its  original  simplicity  and  moral  significance  as  a 
sign  of  admission  to  the  company  and  fellowship  of 
the  disciples  of  Christ,  and  as  a  pledge  of  spiritual 
renewal  and  consecration,  but  it  became  a  holy  ordi- 
nance or  means  of  purification  from  sin  —  in  some 
directions  an  act  of  atonement  for  sin.  The  water 
itself  was  declared  to  have  some  special  saving  power. 
By  solemnly  devoting  it  to  baptismal  uses  it  became 
impregnated,  as  was  claimed,  with  the  divine  presence 
and  with  superhuman  virtue.  It  washed  away  all 
past  sins,  procuring  a  complete  remission  of  them 
and  making  the  recipient  fit  for  heaven.  It  was  the 
sealing  act  of  regeneration  and  of  full  acceptance 
with  God.  Under  this  new  view,  it  was  for  a  time 
the  custom  for  believers  to  defer  baptism  until  just 
before  death,  in  order  to  be  sure  that  no  fresh  sins 
should  be  committed,  and,  for  lack  of  baptismal 
remission,  insure  exclusion  from  paradise.  Thus 
Constantine  the  Great,  though  professedly  converted 
to  Christianity  in  mid-life,  did  not  submit  to  this  rite 
till  near  his  decease,  so  that  he  might  not  afterward 
sin  and  thus  endanger  his  ascension  to  the  mansions 
of  eternal  life  and  blessedness.  Out  of  this  miscon- 
ception grew  at  length  what  was  known  as  the  doctrine 
of  Baptismal  Regeneration,  held  to  some  extent  at 
the  present  day. 

Among  the  early  Christians  baptism  was  adminis- 
tered, as  a  general  custom,  at  two  holy  seasons    of 


64  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

the  year  ;  viz. :  at  the  Easter  festival  held  in  com- 
memoration of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  usually  in 
our  month  of  April  ;  and  on  the  Jewish  day  of 
Pentecost,  occurring  fifty  days  later  and  commemo- 
rating, under  Christian  auspices,  the  outpouring  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  immediately  after  his  ascension  into 
heaven.  This  anniversary  at  a  later  date  came  to  be 
called  Whitsuntide,  because  the  recipients  of  baptism 
were  arrayed  in  white  robes  to  denote  their  purifi- 
cation from  all  evil.  In  post-primitive  times  the 
ordinance  was  administered  in  public  with  imposing 
formalities  by  subordinate  presbyters,  and  afterwards 
confirmed  with  further  solemnities  by  the  bishops 
Sponsors,  under  the  name  of  godfathers,  came  into 
vogue  in  due  time,  and  subsequently  a  multitude  of 
minor  rites  were  introduced  as  adjuncts  of  the  prin- 
cipal one.  Among  these  were  fasting,  oral  prayer, 
the  verbal  renunciation  of  Satan  and  all  his  works, 
etc.,  before  the  rite  was  performed  ;  and  after  it,  the 
imposition  of  hands,  making  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
annointing  with  holy  oil,  a  libation  of  milk  and 
honey,  the  mutual  kiss  of  peace,  the  putting  on  of 
white  raiment,  and  the  placing  on  the  head  crowns 
and  garlands  of  victory.  At  one  period  candles 
were  lighted  on  the  occasion,  salt  was  given  the 
baptized  one,  their  lips  and  ears  were  touched  by 
the  officiating  priest  with  saliva  from  his  own  mouth, 
and  other  more  objectionable  and  even  disgusting 
practices  prevailed.  Much  of  this  profane  nonsense 
was  subsequently  discarded  by  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity, but  a  considerable  portion  of  the  less  irrational 
and  repulsive  of  these  accessories  have  been  retained 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  65 

in    the    Catholic    church    and    in     some    Protestant 
churches  even  to  our  own  times. 

It  is  altogether  probable  that  the  mode  of  baptism 
was  in  the  apostolic  days  that  of  immersion  — 
the  entire  submergence  of  the  body  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  river,  lake,  pool,  or  baptistry  in  which 
the  ceremony  took  place.  Hence  St.  Peter  compared 
it  to  the  passing  through  the  deep  waters  of  the  flood. 
And  Paul  says  of  it,  "  We  are  buried  with  Christ  by 
baptism  at  his  death  ;  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised, 
thus  we  also  should  walk  in  the  newness  of  life."  So 
practised  and  understood  it  had  great  significance. 
**  As  the  entrance  into  the  Christian  society,"  Dean 
Stanley  says,  "  it  was  a  complete  change  from  the  old 
superstitions  or  restrictions  of  Judaism  to  the  freedom 
and  confidence  of  the  Gospel  ;  frorn  the  idolatries 
and  profligacies  of  the  old  heathen  world  to  the  light 
and  purity  of  Christianity."  With  the  progress  of 
time,  however,  as  the  religion  of  Jesus  was  carried 
into  colder  latitudes  and  as  the  custom  of  baptizing 
infant  children  came  into  favor,  a  gradual  change 
into  the  more  convenient  form  of  sprinkling  was 
introduced.  This,  less  directly  to  be  sure,  but  sym- 
bolically, teaches  to  the  intelligent  mind  the  same 
lesson  of  putting  off  "  the  old  man  which  is  corrupt 
according  to  the  deceitful  lusts  "  and  of  putting  on 
"the  new  man  which  after  God  is  created  in  right- 
eousness and  true  holiness."  To  certain  classes  of 
our  modern  Christians  this  change  from  immersion 
to  sprinkling  in  the  mode  of  baptism  is  a  serious 
departure  from  the  original  method,  and  in  their 
judgment  sets  at   nought  the   New  Testament  teach 


66  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

ing  concerning  the  matter  and  invalidates  the  observ- 
ance altogether.  Not  so,  however,  to  those  who 
regard  it  simply  as  a  token  or  symbol  of  a  new  pur- 
pose in  life  and  as  a  pledge  of  loyalty  to  Christ  and 
the  church  ;  who  are  servants  "not  of  the  letter  but 
of  the  spirit  "  of  the  Gospel. 

Since  the  time  of  the  Reformation  under  Luther 
and  others,  Protestants  have  to  some  considerable 
extent  eliminated  from  their  ceremonial  many  of  the 
objectionable  accessories  of  this  rite  which  sprung 
up  in  the  post-apostolic  ages,  but  a  majority  of  them, 
as  well  as  the  Roman  and  Greek  Christians,  still 
endue  it  with  sacramental  virtues  ;  to  the  extent  in 
some  cases  of  ascribing  to  it,  as  I  just  now  indicated, 
regenerating  power,  which  is  foreign  at  least,  if  not 
hostile  to  its  primitive  character,  intent,  and  use.  It 
must  be  divested  of  all  these  superstitious  accretions 
and  corruptions  before  it  will  be  conformed  to  the 
original  type  as  illustrated  in  the  opening  years  of 
our  era. 

The  eucharist  or  Lord's  Supper  has  fared  worse 
than  the  rite  of  baptism  during  the  Christian  ages 
at  the  hands  of  ecclesiastic  casuists  and  manipula- 
tors. Listituted  at  the  beginning  as  a  simple  act  of 
commemoration  in  honor  of  the  great  Teacher,  its 
grand  and  sublime  purpose  was  that  of  rendering 
those  who  observed  it  more  Christlike  in  spirit,  in 
conduct,  and  in  character.  By  calling  to  mind  fre- 
quently and  impressively  the  pre-eminent  self-sacrifice 
of  Christ  as  the  highest  manifestation  of  divine  love, 
as  the  ideal  of  human  excellence,  and  as  the  animat- 
ing spirit  of    his  true    church,  his    followers,  by  the 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  67 

law  of  spiritual  affinity,  would  become  indissolubly 
attached  to  him,  and,  through  that  attachment, 
would  be  united  in  holy  communion  with  each  other 
and  with  the  Father  —  all  joined  and  working 
together  for  the  realization  of  the  prayer,  "  Thy 
kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven." 

For  some  time  this  ordinance  seems  to  have 
been  understood  and  observed  mainly  in  accordance 
with  this  original  design,  and  so  was  productive 
of  excellent  moral  results,  —  faith,  hope,  love,  illus- 
trated in  abounding  self-sacrifice.  The  world  never 
before  saw  such  illustrious  exemplifications  of  prac- 
tical, wide-spread  benevolence,  fraternity,  and  holy 
martyrdom  for  righteousness  sake,  as  were  to 
be  found  among  the  followers  of  the  meek  and 
lowly  Jesus. 

But  it  was  impossible  for  these  early  disciples, 
converts  from  Jewish  and  heathen  superstition,  to 
preserve  in  its  pristine  purity  this  simple,  natural, 
unostentatious  rite.  The  first  open  departure  from 
its  original  character  and  use  was  to  give  it  a  spec- 
ially sacramental  significance,  even  to  the  extent  of 
making  participation  in  it  the  equivalent  of  an  oath 
of  allegiance  to  Christ,  according  to  the  primary 
meaning  of  the  word  sacrament  in  the  Roman 
language  from  which  it  is  derived,  which  is  an  oath. 
An  oath  is  a  solemn  declaration  made  to  God  with 
the  implied  invocation  of  His  vengeance  iif  the 
promise  of  the  declaration  is  not  fulfilled.  Hence  to 
exalt  the  eucharist  into  a  sacrament,  in  the  sense 
stated,  had  a  tendency  to  create  in  the  average  mind 


68  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

the  idea  of  the  special  divinity  of  Christ  and  ulti- 
mately of  his  deity ;  thus  converting  the  rite  in 
question  into  an  act  of  worshipful  piety  rather  than 
regarding  it  as  a  privilege,  a  suggestive  lesson,  and  a 
moral  stimulant  to  holiness  of  heart  and  life  in  imita- 
tion of  Christ. 

In  keeping  with  this  conception  was  another  that 
soon  gained  recognition  and  acceptance,  to  wit: 
that  it  was  one  of  the  great  mysteries  of  the  Chris- 
tian Gospel,  far  transcending  those  of  the  heathen 
religions  ;  being  characterized  in  the  fourth  century 
as  "  a  tremendous  mystery,  a  dreadful  solemnity,  and 
terrible  to  angels."  This  invested  it  with  an  awe 
and  a  dread  which  instead  of  quickening,  chilled  and 
deadened  the  finer  sensibilities  of  the  soul,  and  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  promulgation  and  reception  of 
the  doctrine  that  the  eucharistic  emblems  were  a 
veritable  sacrifice  to  God,  and  that  the  table  on  which 
they  were  laid  was  an  altar,  holy  unto  Him.  At  the 
moment  when,  by  prayer  or  otherwise,  the  act  of 
consecrating  the  emblems  took  place,  there  passed 
into  them,  it  was  said,  an  inconceivable  divine  virtue 
which  imparted  to  them  special  sacredness  and  value 
as  offerings  to  the  Most  High,  and  at  the  same  time 
rendered  them  miraculously  potent  to  those  who  par- 
took of  them  for  the  preservation  of  the  body  against 
impending  disease,  debility,  and  death,  and  for  the 
deliverance  of  the  soul  from  sin  and  all  its  conse- 
qences,  both  in  this  world  and  in  that  to  come. 
From  these  and  kindred  sophistical  and  misleading 
hypotheses  there  was  gradually  developed  the  famous 
Catholic  dogma  of   Transubstantiation,   which  came 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  69 

to  its  consummation  and  open  proclamation  as  an 
article  of  faith  in  the  celebrated  Council  of  Trent 
held  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  decrees  of  this 
auu^ust  body  declared  that  the  bread  and  wine  of  the 
eucharist  were  miraculously  transmuted  into  the  real 
body  and  blood  of  Christ,  and  hence  that  whoever 
partook  of  these  actually  ate  the  flesh  and  drank  the 
blood  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  The  dogma  of 
(Ti^z/substantiation,  held  by  the  Lutherans  and  some 
other  Protestants,  differed  from  this  only  in  teach- 
ing that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  were  only 
substantially  and  not  really  present  in  the  eucha- 
ristic  emblems.  Priestly  assumption  could  rise  no 
higher  nor  human  credulity  be  farther  stretched  than 
is  manifest  in  the  promulgation  and  acceptance  of 
either  of  these  views.  PVom  these  and  all  other 
vagaries  and  pious  conjectures  of  purely  human 
devising,  it  is  needful  to  go  back  to  the  simple 
thought  and  feeling  of  the  primitive  church  touching 
this  ordinance,  keeping  ever  in  view  its  original 
character  and  purpose;  the  maintenance  and  supreme 
control  in  the  human  heart  and  in  human  life  of 
those  great  moral  and  spiritual  realities  for  the  sake 
of  which  alone  all  religious  forms  exist,  and  without 
which,  as  the  ultimate  object  and  aim,  such  forms 
are  but  a  vain  and  empty  show. 

I  have  not  time  or  space  to  mention  numerous 
secondary  rites,  ceremonies,  and  usages,  which  from 
time  to  time  sprang  up  as  adjuncts  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  and  were  employed  for  the  purpose  of  attract- 
ing, impressing,  and  governing  the  masses  of  the 
common   people.      Nor  to   speak    of    sundry  kindred 


70  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

inventions  and  devices  which  have  made  the 
nominal  Christian  religion  of  the  world,  in  respect 
to  rites  and  ordinances,  little  better  than  a  sys- 
tematic compound  of  Judaism  and  Paganism,  vari- 
ously modified  and  amalgamated  so  as  to  produce 
change  of  external  appearance  rather  than  change 
of  essential  substance.  In  this  statement  I  include 
all  that  pertains  to  the  conduct  of  religious  con- 
vocations and  to  the  manifold  ceremonials  of  public 
worship. 

I  conclude  this  discourse  upon  the  corruptions  of 
Primitive  Christianity  in  relation  to  rites  and  ordi- 
nances by  summing  up  what  I  have  said  under  three 
heads:  i.  Perverting  the  few  original  observances 
from  simple,  benignant  privileges,  calculated  to  make 
men  morally  and  spiritually  Christ-like,  into  mysteri- 
ous, awful  sacraments,  designed  to  propitiate  God 
and  enhance  priestly  importance.  2.  Borrowing, 
inventing,  and  adding  to  the  few  original  observances 
a  vast  number  of  others,  purporting  to  be  of  divine 
authority,  for  the  same  reprehensible  purpose- 
3.  Metamorphosing  the  primitive  Christian  piety 
from  its  original  spiritual  purity  and  grandeur,  which 
forbids  all  religious  exercises  and  formalities  *'to  be 
seen  of  men,"  into  a  complex  and  meaningless  ritu- 
alism, replete  with  solemn  pomp,  sensuous  splendor, 
and  worldly  display.  These  corruptions,  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God  and  the  progress  of  mankind,  will 
sometime  pass  away,  and  the  beautiful,  sublime, 
redeeming  simplicity  of  primitive  Christian  piety 
will  everywhere  prevail.  Then  shall  the  Church  rise 
to  its  destined  place  of    transcendent   power  among 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  71 

men,  and  shine  forth  through  all  the  earth  in   millen- 
nial glory. 

"  The  pure  in  heart,  her  baptized  ones. 
Love  her  communion  cup." 


DISCOURSE  vr. 

COBBUPTIONS    OF    PRIMITIVE     CHRISTIAN   PIETY: 
PART  3. 

I\    HELATIOX    TO    ITS    DIVORCE    FHOIM    MORALITY. 

"  Go  ye  and  learn  what  that  meaneth,  I  will  have  mercy  and 
not  sacrifice."  —  Matt.'w.   13. 

■•  Woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites  !  for  ye 
pay  tithe  of  mint  and  annis  and  cummin,  and  have  omitted  the 
weightier  matters  of  the  law,  justice,  mercy,  and  faith;  these 
ought  ye  to  have  done  and  not  to  leave  the  other  undone.'"  — 
Mait.  xxiii.   23. 

These  texts  renewedly  indicate,  what  was  plainly 
set  forth  by  me  in  a  former  discourse,  that  the  pure, 
primitive  Christian  piety  was  intimately  related  to 
pure  morality ;  was,  indeed,  inseparably  conjoined 
with  it,  so  that  love  of  God,  love  of  man,  and  love  of 
well-doing  must  stand  or  fall  together.  I  there 
showed,  moreover,  that  such  piety  was  not  required 
because  God  needed  it,  nor  to  propitiate  His  favor, 
nor  to  render  Him  in  any  wise  more  kind,  loving, 
merciful  than  He  otherwise  would  be  ;  but  because 
man  needed  it,  to  bring  him  into  closer  communion 
with  his  heavenly  Father,  imbue  him  with  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  thereby  render  him  like  God  in  disposi- 
tion, conduct,  and  character.  This  being  the  case, 
it    necessarily    follows    that    no   devout    exercises    or 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY.  73 

formalities  which  fail  to  produce  these  results  are  of 
any  absolute  worth  to  God  or  man.  True  piety 
therefore,  however  manifested,  is  not  so  much  a  reli- 
gious end  as  a  means  to  an  end, —  as  God's  method  of 
rendering  His  creatures  just,  merciful,  holy,  and 
happy  in  themselves  and  among  themselves,  as  He 
is  happy  in  Himself  and  towards  all  His  offspring. 
Consequently  the  genuine  Gospel  teaches  us  to  be 
pious  in  order  that  we  may  be  righteously  moral,  to 
love  God  that  we  may  love  our  fellow  creatures  as 
He  does,  and  that  we  may  love  His  laws  and  obey 
them.  To  this  end  we  are  to  worship  ;  —  to  pray,  to 
sing,  to  use  all  the  formalities  of  devotion  as  well  as 
all  religious  privileges  whatsoever. 

But  if  people's  theological  conceptions  are  not 
such  as  Christ  taught  ;  if,  instead  of  regarding  God 
as  the  all-perfect  Father,  they  consider  Him  an 
Almighty  Sovereign,  seeking  His  own  glory  rather 
than  the  welfare  of  the  creatures  He  has  made:  if 
they  deem  Him  a  stern,  jealous,  vindictive  despot, 
what  then  }  Then,  of  course,  to  the  extent  of  such 
false  conceptions  they  will  serve  Him  more  from 
selfish  fear  than  from  filial  love,  and  their  piety  will 
consist  chiefly  in  sacrifices,  offerings,  and  oblations 
designed  to  appease  His  wrath  and  win  His  approving 
favor,  with  little  regard  to  the  higher  moralities  of  life 
or  to  philanthropic  service  of  mankind.  I  pointed  out 
the  deleterious  and  pernicious  influence  of  false  views 
of  God,  His  character  and  government,  in  the  first 
volume  of  this  work.  In  studying  the  history  of 
Christianity  from  the  beginning  we  find  that  the  cor- 
ruption   of    primitive    Christian    piety  followed    close 


74  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

upon  the  footsteps  of  theological  corruption,  and 
kept  even  pace  with  it.  For,  despite  all  the  declama- 
tion heard  against  theology  and  in  praise  of  a  creed- 
less  religion,  the  generality  of  mankind  have  always 
reflected  in  a  marked  degree  their  predominant  theo- 
logical beliefs  in  their  actual  piety  and  morality, 
either  commendably  or  deplorably.  Not  because 
they  reason  themselves  into  this  course  by  logical 
processes,  for  only  a  few  do  this  ;  but  because  their 
honest  convictions  regarding  divine  realities  create  a 
penetrating,  life-imparting  atmosphere,  wherein  their 
souls  expand  or  contract,  like  the  quicksilver  of  a 
thermometer  in  the  variable  temperature  of  surround- 
ing air.  In  the  natural  order  and  eternal  fitness  of 
things  it  must  forever  be  so. 

Now  what  I  desire  to  do  in  this  discourse  is  to 
exhibit  that  gross  corruption  of  primitive  Christian 
piety  which,  besides  vitiating  it  in  other  respects,  has 
divorced  it  from  and  exalted  it  above  pure  ethics  — 
Christian  morality.  This  mischievous  work  began  a 
century  at  least  before  its  culmination  in  the  union 
of  church  and  state  under  the  emperor  Constantine. 
After  that  malign  event,  the  waters  of  iniquity,  for  a 
long  time  accumulating,  became  an  overwhelming 
flood,  swelling  and  rolling  onward  with  augmented 
force  and  turbidity  down  to  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  the  evil  reached  its  utmost  height.  It  was 
then  brought  to  bay  and  partially  assuaged,  but  all 
Christendom  is  still  sadly  blotched  with  the  plague- 
spots  of  its  contagious  defilement.  This  defection 
accompanied  and  aggravated  the  corruptions  which 
took  place  with   reference  to   religious  worship,  rites. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  75 

and  ordinances  already  considered.  As  these  became 
Judaized  and  heathenized  —  shrouded  in  mystery  and 
awe-inspiring  sanctity,  or  clothed  in  the  garb  of 
superstition,  devotees  became  correspondingly  regard- 
less of  the  claims  of  justice,  truth,  mercy,  purity, 
and  charity, —  the  common  virtues  of  life,  the  vital 
elements  of  character,  the  indefeasible  requirements 
of  the  law  of  righteousness.  As  we  turn  the  pages  of 
history,  and  especially  of  ecclesiastical  history,  we  are 
struck  and  shocked  by  the  dark  developments  in  this 
particular  which  are  there  revealed.  A  few  of  the 
more  important  features  of  the  case  are  worthy  of 
notice. 

I.  We  behold  in  looking  over  the  annals  of  the 
Christian  church  the  rise  and  growing  supremacy  of 
an  ambitious,  worldly-minded,  unscrupulous  clerical 
hierarchy  at  the  head  of  religious  affairs,  wrangling, 
intriguing,  contending  within  its  own  limits,  and 
doing  all  manner  of  reprehensible  things  for  the  sake 
of  rank,  power,  and  self-aggrandizement,  with  little 
or  no  regard  to  the  simplest  precepts  and  duties  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Many  of  those  involved  were, 
in  fact,  shamefully  dissolute  and  immoral  personally, 
yet  were  they  officially  consecrated  and  pious,  serv- 
ing in  all  the  high  places  of  the  church.  They  pro- 
fessed the  Christian  faith,  they  conducted  the 
ceremonies  of  worship,  they  were  punctilious  in  the 
observance  of  a  multitude  of  ritualistic  formalities, 
going  through  them  all  with  most  pious  air  and  with 
solemn  regularity  and  exactitude.  They  moreover 
taught  the  laity  to  omit  no  rite,  service,  or  penance, 
declared  to  be  necessary  to  keep  their  dread  accounts 


76  PKIMITIYE    CHRISTIANITY 

square  with  God,  and  retain  a  balance  in  their  favor 
on  the  pages  of  the  divine  ledger.  If  they  failed  in 
that  regard  —  were  remiss  in  the  ceremonials  of 
religion,  and  so  turned  the  balance  to  the  other  side, 
bringing  themselves  under  condemnation,  woe  be  unto 
them  !  Endless  damnation  or  at  least  the  fearful 
pains  of  purgatory  awaited  their  souls.  If  by  due 
•exercises  of  piety  or  ritualistic  performances  they 
could  keep  their  heavenly  ledger  right,  after  the 
fashion  systematically  taught  them,  morality,  a 
rightly  ordered  life,  would  be  of  very  little 
account  and  the  lack  of  these  would  incur  no  serious 
loss. 

2.  Again  we  see  in  reading  ecclesiastical  history 
a  long  succession  of  abominable  cruelties  and  perse- 
cutions perpetrated  against  Jews,  Mohammedans, 
pagans,  heretics,  etc.,  all  in  the  name  of  Christ 
though  all  utterly  contrary  to  his  spirit,  precepts,  and 
example.  The  record  is  dark  and  hideous  with  this 
sort  of  iniquity  —  abounding  in  tales  of  violence 
and  reeking  with  human  gore.  Nevertheless,  temples 
multiplied  and  ill-gotten  wealth  garnished  them, 
while  solemn  assemblies,  feasts,  fasts,  processions, 
and  a  long  list  of  pompous  demonstrations,  were 
their  concomitants.  Meantime,  poor,  down-trodden 
humanity,  groaned  beneath  the  burdens  imposed 
upon  it  or  suffered  and  died  in  neglect  and  despair, 
save  as  it  sometimes  found  relief  from  alms  gathered 
and  bestowed  with  almost  as  much  pretension  and 
display  as  attended  the  worship  of  God,  the  adora- 
tion of  saints  and  angels,  or  the  observance  of  other 
formalities  of   relii^ious  devotion  and  zeal. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  77 

3.  A  more  careful  scrutiny  of  this  kind  of  cor- 
ruption—  of  the  long-prevailing  divorce  between 
piety,  or  the  profession  and  show  of  piety,  and  moral- 
ity, will  disclose  the  reproachful  fact  that  for  a  long 
time  what  have  been  properly  denominated  pious 
frauds  were  sanctioned,  or  at  least  tolerated  and 
allowed,  as  justifiable  means  of  strengthening  the 
priesthood,  of  gaining  converts,  and  of  promoting 
the  growth  and  glory  of  the  church.  False  gospels, 
false  legends,  false  miracles,  false  relics  of  saints, 
and  manifold  other  forms  of  deception  and  trickery 
prevailed  to  a  wide  extent  for  several  centuries. 
The  doctrine  which  Paul  so  openly  condemned,  that 
we  may  "do  evil  that  good  may  come,"  or  in  a  new 
version,  "  the  end  sanctifies  the  means,"  was  boldly 
taught  and  defended  by  learned  casuists  and  ecclesi- 
astics of  high  position  and  repute.  This  doctrine, 
which  subverts  all  pure  ethics,  or,  at  least,  the 
immorality  it  represents,  has  by  no  means  gone  out 
of  fashion,  even  among  religious  teachers  and  people 
who  verbally  denounce  and  disown  it.  But  all  pious 
fraud,  falsehood,  hypocrisy,  deceit,  is  wicked  and 
abominable,  when  viewed  in  the  liirht  of  New 
Testament  Christianity.  And  no  show  of  piety,  nor 
pretence  of  good  to  be  accomplished,  can  justify  or 
excuse,  much  less  atone  for,  any  such  violation  of 
the  first  principles  of  truth  and  honesty,  as  between 
man  and  his  fellow  man  ;  as  between  the  teachers 
and  ministers  of  religion,  under  whatever  name,  and 
the  people  at  large. 

4.  Another  form  of  the  particular  evil  under 
notice  may  be  seen  in   the  long-time   prevailing    and 


78  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

Still  recognized  doctrine  of  absolution,  or  remission 
of  sins  as  it  was  sometimes  termed  According:  to 
this  doctrine  a  wrong-doer  could  receive  discharge 
from  his  guilt  and  escape  the  consequences  of  his 
iniquity  by  making  confession  to  a  priest,  by  submit- 
ting to  some  prescribed  form  of  penance,  or  by  mak- 
ing sufificient  contribution  to  the  church  treasury.  The 
same  immunity  could  be  gained  for  those  who  had 
died  impenitent  and  were  suffering  the  tortures  of 
purgatorial  fire,  by  the  purchase  of  masses  in  their 
behalf  on  the  part  of  friends,  and  premediated  iniqui- 
ties could  be  condoned  beforehand  and  committed 
without  incurring  guilt  or  the  divine  condemnation, 
by  procuring  indulgences,  as  they  were  termed,  or 
authorized  permits  at  certain  stipulated  prices,  the 
proceeds  of  which  were  devoted  to  such  uses  of  a 
religious  character  as  the  ecclesiastical  dignitaries 
might  decide.  It  was  from  this  source  that  money 
was  obtained  by  which  the  magnificent  St.  Peter's 
Church  at  Rome,  costing  fifty  millions  of  dollars, 
was  built.  What  a  vast  amount  of  vice,  crime,  and 
horrible  wickedness  has  been  ostensibly  cancelled 
and  its  record  erased  from  God's  great  book  of  judg- 
ment by  these  priestly  devices  and  performances, 
not  one  of  which  has  any  warrant  from  the  primitive 
testimonies  of  Christ  and  his  appointed  ministers. 
How  many  millions  of  people  have^  had  their  moral 
sense  perverted  and  their  habitual  sinful  inclinations 
confirmed  and  strengthened,  often  to  the  utmost,  by 
the  delusive  assuranc  e  of  those  whom  they  recognized 
and  trusted  as  faithful  interpreters  and  heralds  of 
the    Christian     Gospel,     that     confessio^i,     penance. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  79 

masses,  indulgences,  or  the  payment  of  money  for 
any  purpose,  could  and  would  absolve  them  from 
guilt  and  merited  punishment — could  and  would 
annul  and  set  aside  the  divine  law  of  retributive 
justice,  which  teaches  that  "  whatsoever  a  man 
soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap."  The  famous  St. 
Bernard,  the  foremost  champion  of  the  second  great 
crusade  to  recover  Palestine  from  the  Mussulmans 
in  the  middle  ages,  in  enlisting  recruits,  said,  '*  God 
condescends  to  invite  to  His  service,  murderers,  rob- 
bers, adulterers,  perjurers,  and  those  sunk  in  other 
crimes  ;  and  whosoever  falls  in  this  cause  shall  secure 
pardon  for  the  sins  which  he  has  never  confessed 
with  a  contrite  heart."  Thus  did  this  notable  and 
pious  prelate,  canonized  as  saint  of  the  first  rank, 
make  an  act  of  assumed  service  of  God,  itself  reek- 
ing with  blood,  an  atonement  for  the  grossest  of 
iniquities,  thereby  not  only  trampling  under  foot  the 
plain  precepts  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  but  juggling 
with  the  eternal  principles  of  moral  order  in  the  uni- 
verse of  souls.  Much  after  the  same  fashion  do 
professed  ministers  of  Christ  and  doctors  of  theol- 
ogy now-a-days  promise  military  characters  of  every 
grade  and  type,  however  gross  their  personal  immor- 
alities, immunity  from  the  consequences  of  those 
immoralities  and  a  ready  entrance  into  the  celestial 
abodes,  on  the  sole  ground  that  they  have  been  patri- 
otic and  brave  soldiers  in  some  righteous  war  (and 
all  wars  are  righteous  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  inaugu- 
rate and  wage  them )  —  because  they  have  been 
skillful  and  expert  in  the  art  of    human   slaughter  — 


80  PKIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

in  increasing  orphanage  and  widowhood  in  the  world 
and  multiplying  the  miseries  of  mankind  ! 

5.  As  another  illustration  of  the  still  existing  prac- 
tice of  divorcing  piety  from  morality  and  making 
certain  religious  exercises  or  acts  take  the  place  of 
righteousness  in  human  life,  I  have  but  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  rich  sinners  in  these  times  are 
often  led  by  their  spiritual  teachers  and  guides  to 
think  that,  by  liberally  endowing  their  church,  found- 
ing religious  institutions,  giving  freely  to  the  cause 
of  missions,  or  leaving  large  sums  of  money  to  be 
expended  for  masses  to  be  said  in  order  to  deliver 
their  souls  from  purgatory,  they  cancel  the  guilt  of  a 
life  of  persistent  wickedness  and  find  acceptance 
with  the  great  Judge  of  all  the  earth.  The  utter 
folly,  nay,  the  impiety  of  all  these  notions  is  most 
palpable  to  an  enlightened  and  spiritualized  mind. 
That  God  can  be  moved  to  mercy  and  grace  by  any 
sort  of  sacerdotal  mediations,  sacrifices,  or  acts 
performed  in  the  name  of  religion  ;  that  the  legiti- 
mate consequences  of  iniquity  can  be  set  aside  or 
escaped  by  any  sort  of  pietistic  legerdemain,  thus 
relieving  one  of  the  indispensable  necessity  of  keep- 
ing the  divine  commandments,  —  of  "doing  justly, 
loving  mercy,  and  walking  humbly  with  God,"  is  one 
of  the  most  glaring,  mischievous,  demoralizing  forms 
of  that  corruption  of  the  primitive  Christian  piety 
which  has  characterized  the  nominal  church  of 
Christ  from  the  early  centuries  of  our  era  unto  the 
present  day. 

6.      Finally,    passing    over    many    minor    specifica- 
tions which  might  be  made  in   illustration  of  the  fact 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  81 

that  there  has  been  a  great  and  deplorable  lapse 
from  the  original  type  of  piety  among  Christian 
believers  in  its  relation  to  morality,  I  would  call 
attention  briefly  to  the  long-continued  complicity  of 
the  Church  with  the  civil  governments  of  the  world 
and  their  unchristian  machinery — to  those  institu- 
tions, laws,  methods,  customs,  and  practices  which 
are  in  opposition  to  the  principles  and  spirit  of  the 
Gospel.  Pure  Primitive  Christianity  recognized 
worldly  governments  as  natural  and  necessary  for 
mankind  on  the  low  moral  plane  of  life  occupied  by 
people  at  large,  and  as  ordained  of  God  in  His  gen- 
eral providence  to  maintain  a  certain  degree  of  civil 
and  social  order  and  prevent  worse  conditions  ;  to  be 
respected  for  whatever  of  good  they  might  accom- 
plish, and  to  be  obeyed  in  respect  to  their  demands 
and  requirements  to  the  extent  of  submission  to 
their  authority,  even  when  unjust  and  tyrannical, 
without  physical  resistance  except  in  the  passive 
form  of  martyrdom  for  righteousness'  sake.  But  at 
the  same  time  Christians  were  conscientiously  pre- 
cluded from  voluntarily  entering  into  worldly  govern- 
ments, in  their  then  existing  form  and  character, 
either  as  officers  of  administration  or  responsible 
co-governing  constituents  and  participants.  And  for 
these  reasons:  i.  Because  they  had  professedly 
risen  to  a  higher  moral  plane,  entered  a  kingdom  not 
of  this  world,  and  pledged  an  unreserved  allegiance 
to  Christ,  the  head  of  that  kingdom.  2.  Because 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  required  that  its  subjects 
should  never  kill,  hate,  injure,  or  harm  any  human 
being,   even    the  worst    of    offenders    and    enemies  i 


82  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

never  do  evil  that  good  might  come  ;  never  sanction 
idolatry,  tyranny,  persecution,  war,  inhumanity  of 
any  sort,  or  any  deliberate  transgression  of  the  two 
great  commandments  requiring  love  to  God  and  all 
mankind;  in  fine,  never  be  *' of  this  world"  in 
any  respect  contrary  to  the  precepts,  spirit,  and 
example  of  their  Lord  and  Master.  3.  Because  the 
governments  of  the  world  were  fashioned  and  admin- 
istered without  regard  to  these  vital  and  imperative 
considerations,  mainly  on  the  basis  of  selfish  policy 
and  political  expediency  suited  to  the  moral  status  of 
the  people  over  whom  they  exercised  authority  ;  — 
because  they  enacted  many  unrighteous  laws,  estab- 
lished and  perpetuated  many  vicious  customs  and 
practices,  and  were  maintained  and  operated  in  the 
last  resort  by  an  appeal  to  injurious  and  deadly  force, 
either  penal  or  warlike.  4.  Because  these  govern- 
ments exacted  unconditional  allegiance  to  their  suprem- 
acy in  respect  to  what  was  evil  and  unchristian  in 
them  as  well  as  to  what  was  good  and  right,  making 
no  provision  for  a  higher  allegiance  to  Christ,  and  so 
rendering  it  impossible  for  conscientious  followers 
of  Christ  to  render  them  the  unreserved  fealty  and 
support  they  demanded.  Such  being  the  case,  they 
must  either  be  disloyal  to  their  Lord  or  stand  out- 
side of  all  civil  governments,  so  far  as  involved 
voluntary  acknowledgment  of  their  moral  suprem- 
acy, responsibility  for  their  unjust  administration, 
and  above  all  complicity  with  what  was  in  them  con- 
trary to  the  spirit  and  principles  of  their  holy  reli- 
gion. There  was  therefore  no  alternative  for  them 
in  good  conscience  but  to  stand  outside.     This  they 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  83 

could  do  while  cherishing  a  profound  respect  for  the 
providential  ordination  and  use  of  these  governments, 
without  being  dechristianized  by  them.  For  about 
two  centuries  this  was  the  sublime,  impregnable  atti- 
tude almost  unanimously  maintained  by  the  Christian 
church.  Then  there  came  a  marked  degeneracy  in 
this  regard,  which  culminated  in  the  calamitous  union 
of  church  and  state  under  Constantine  in  the  fourth 
century,  already  mentioned. 

From  that  time  forth  down  through  the  ages  only 
a  scattered  few  professing  Christians  adhered  to  the 
primitive  standard  of  non-interference  with  matters 
of  civil  government  and  most  of  these  did  so  but 
imperfectly.  The  overwhelming  majority  of  clergy 
and  laity  entered  actively  into  the  manipulation 
and  conduct  of  political  affairs,  gaining  control  of 
the  scepter,  the  purse,  and  the  sword,  wherever  they 
could,  and  employing  them  as  they  pleased  with 
little  or  no  deference  to  the  high  morality  or  pre- 
scriptive duties  of  the  New  Testament.  Yet  they 
claimed  all  the  while  to  act  in  the  name  of  Christ 
and  for  the  promotion  of  his  cause  and  kingdom,  but 
practically  to  the  betrayal  of  both.  They  kept  up  a 
most  costly  and  magnificent  show  of  religious  devo- 
tion and  zeal,  but  turned  their  backs  upon  many  of 
the  cardinal  features  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion  ^ 
as  taught  and  exemplified  by  the  Master,  instituting 
and  using  without  scruple  the  carnal  instrumentali- 
ties of  authority  and  power  which  he  distinctively 
forbade.  Piety  was  thus  divorced  from  morality,  as 
in  other  ways,  and  Christendom  in  its  governmental 
and  national  aspects  became   the  wide    theater    not 


84  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

only  of  wrangling,  contention,  chicanery,  and  all 
sorts  of  demagogueism,  but  of  persecution,  slavery, 
cruelty,  violence,  and  wholesale  slaughter.  Infinite 
pains  have  been  taken  among  all  so-called  Christian 
nations  to  propitiate  God  and  make  sure  of  heaven 
in  a  future  state  by  an  unnumbered  list  of  pietistic 
contrivances,  and  contending  sects  have  vied  with 
each  other  in  maintaining  a  magnificent  array  and 
display  of  religious  establishments  and  exercises, 
but  the  great  duties  growing  out  of  the  law  of  love 
to  God  and  man  —  the  duties  of  philanthropy, 
charity,  and  solid  morality  have  been  during  the 
advancing  centuries  most  egregriously  neglected  in 
governmental  concerns,  and  often  utterly  forgotten 
and  trampled  in  the  dust. 

The  light  of  returning  morn  has  been  increasing 
for  the  past  few  hundred  years  and  especially  for 
several  of  the  later  decades  and  is  revealing  many 
still  existing  hideous  perversions  of  Primitive  Chris- 
tianity unsuspected  as  yet  by  any  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  church.  It  is  astonishing  to  think  that 
with  all  the  boasted  progress  of  science  and  civiliza- 
tion, with  all  the  boasted  progress  in  relig'ous  con- 
ceptions and  ideals,  the  nations  of  Christendom 
constitute  today  the  most  belligerant  and  warlike 
portions  of  the  earth.  They  enlist  more  soldiers, 
maintain  mightier  armies,  build  more  and  stronger 
navies,  fortifications,  and  arsenals,  invent  more  effec- 
tive machineries  for  human  slaughter,  devastate  more 
territory,  destroy  more  property,  saciftce  more  lives, 
and  cause  more  misery  and  woe  by  military  opera- 
tions than  the  other  entire  two-thirds  of  the  human 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  85 

race  —  all  heathen  tribes  and  people  combined. 
And  all  or  nearly  all  within  their  own  borders  —  in 
armed  conflicts  and  deadly  encounters  among  them- 
selves: Christian  meeting  Christian  in  mortal  combat, 
each  eager  to  shed  the  blood  of  the  other  and  baptize 
the  earth  with  Christian  gore. 

And  yet,  even  now,  not  one  professed  Christian  in 
a  hundred,  perhaps  not  one  in  a  thousand,  raises  a 
voice  of  protest  against  this  "  worst  vestige  of  bar- 
barism," as  Channing  called  it,  or  seems  to  think  for 
a  moment  that  it  is  in  any  way  unchristian.  The 
vast  majority  of  church  members  pray,  exhort,  sing 
Te  Deums,  etc.,  against  each  other's  government  and 
in  behalf  of  their  own  ;  they  offer  the  oblations  of 
thanksgiving  to  God  and  shout  hosannas  to  His 
name  over  battles  fought  and  victories  won,  as  if  the 
most  selfish,  jealous,  cruel,  blood-stained  patriotism, 
as  it  is  termed,  were  the  greatest  of  all  virtues,  the 
sublimest  of  Christian  duties.  At  the  same  time 
the  long  dark  train  of  vices  and  evils  which  neces- 
sarily accompany  and  follow  war  are  either  winked  at 
or  sentimentally  lamented,  while  the  soldier,  espec- 
ially if  he  be  skilful  and  successful  in  slaughtering 
his  fellow-men,  is  canonized  by  all  departments  of 
the  church  as  a  veritable  saint,  fit  for  a  heavenly 
mansion,  though  his  private  character  be  reeking 
with  iniquity  and  moral  defilement.  Going  back  to 
the  days  of  Constantine  and  marking  the  fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire  which  went  down  in  blood,  we  may 
grope  our  way  through  the  dark  ages  to  the  time  of 
the  Reformation  and  thence  to  the  present  moment, 
notin":    what     hecatombs    of     human     beings     have 


86  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

been  offered  as  sacrifices  to  Moloch,  *'  the  fiercest  of 
fallen  spirits,"  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  what  oceans 
of  human  blood  have  been  shed  by  man's  fratricidal 
hand,  and  then  pause  to  soberly  ask.  What  has  the 
great  Christian  Church  been  doing  all  this  time  ?  It 
has  in  large  part  been  acting  as  priestly  confessor  to 
the  state,  to  sanctify  its  iniquities  and  grant  absolu- 
tion to  its  sins  ;  especially  to  justify  and  consecrate 
the  horrid  barbarities  of  the  gigantic  war  system  of 
the  world.  With  few  honorable  exceptions,  it  has 
been  aiding,  abetting,  stimulating,  and  often  direct- 
ing on  one  side  or  the  other,  or  on  both  sides,  this 
long-drawn-out  retinue  of  human  butchery.  Did 
Christ  and  his  Apostles  set  the  example  for  such 
conduct.?  Did  they  teach  such  a  blood-shedding 
religion  ?  Did  they  ever  suggest  or  countenance 
such  a  divorce  between  piety  and  morality  ;  such 
corruption  of  true  piety,  such  perversion  of  pure 
morality  ?  Never,  in  the  least  degree,  to  the 
smallest  extent.  And  whoever  would  be  a  faithful 
follower  of  the  great  Teacher,  his  disciple  in  spirit 
and  in  truth,  must  disown,  renounce,  and  abjure  all 
such  acts  of  disloyalty  to  him  at  once  and  forever. 


DISCOURSE    VII. 

PBIMITIVE   CHRISTIAN  MORALITY. 

"  Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of  thistles  ?  Even 
so  every  good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit ;  but  a  corrupt  tree 
bringeth  forth  evil  fruit.  Wherefore  by  their  fruits  shall  ye 
know  them." — Matt.  vii.  i6,  17,  20. 

Of  Piety,  the  first  general  branch  of  Personal 
Righteousness  to  the  consideration  of  which  this 
volume  is  devoted,  I  have  treated  amply  in  the  six 
preceding  discourses.  I  now  proceed  to  take  up  the 
second  branch  of  the  same  subject,  —  Morality. 
Piety  I  have  defined  as  that  department  of  Personal 
Righteousness  in  man  which  concerns  him  chiefly 
and  more  especially  in  his  relation  to  God.  Morality 
is  that  department  which  concerns  him  chiefly  and 
more  especially  in  his  relation  to  man  ;  that  is,  sub- 
jectively to  himself,  and  objectively  to  fellow  human 
beings ;  perhaps  to  beings  higher  and  lower  than 
himself  in  the  vast  realm  of  universal  life.  The 
connection  between  piety  and  morality  is  really  so 
intimate  that  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  distinguish 
the  two  from  each  other.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
minor  divisions  of  both.  Yet  I  hope  to  make  such 
distinctions  as  the  common  understanding  can  readily 
apprehend,  acknowledge,  and  make  available  for 
practical   use.     Before    proceeding    to    speak  of    the 


88  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

cardinal  elements  or  qualities  which  constitute  what 
I  term  pure,  primitive  Christian  morality,  I  beg 
leave  to  offer  a  few  preliminary  observations. 

I.     Whatever    may  be    the  vital    importance    and 
necessity  of  true  piety  those  of  true  morality  are,  if 
possible,  still  greater:  certainly  in  this  present  human 
world.      Mainly  because  the  chief  use  of  piety  is  to 
superintend,  promote,  and  preserve  morality,  which 
more  directly  and    positively  affects  human   welfare 
and   happiness   on   the    earth.     In    this   view,  piety, 
though  in  itself  a  high  attainment  and  source  of  joy, 
is  not  so  much  an  end  of   being  as  a  means  to  an 
ulterior   end  —  the  generation  of    virtuous  endeavor 
and  development  of  a  lofty  type  of  character.     If  in 
any  instance  it  fails  to  produce  this  result,  it  is  com- 
paratively worthless ;    since    God    does    not    in    any 
sense  need  it,  and  man  in  such  a  case  would  not  be 
essentially  benefited  by  it.     This  is  not  the  popular 
religious  estimate  of  piety  and  morality  respectively, 
inasmuch  as  this  estimate  makes  much  of  piety  and 
little  of  morality.     It  is  based  on  the  assumption  that 
God  has  an  exclusive  glory  apart  from  the  good  of 
His   creatures;    that    such    glory  can    and    must    be 
augmented  or  promoted  by  certain    rites    and    cere- 
monies of  worship  in   order  to  secure  divine  favor  ; 
and  that  unless  these  are  observed  and  rendered  in 
due  form  and  season,  men  will  incur  the  inexorable 
wrath  of  God  and  be  doomed  to  endless  punishment, 
or,  in   milder    terms,   to    hopeless    destruction.     But 
this  assumption  I  have  discarded,  as  utterly  without 
foundation  and  radically  repugnant  to  the  teachings 
of  Christ,  and  have  declared  that  God  is  from  and  to 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  »» 

all  eternity  the  unchangeable  friend  of  all  His  moral 
offspring,  whether  they  be  good  or  bad,  whether  they 
love,  honor,  and  serve  Him  in  all  good  conscience,  or 
vainly  and  wickedly  ignore  or  deny  His  existence  and 
forsake  the  way  of  His  commandments;  and  that 
His  laws  and  judgments,  His  favors  and  mercies,  all 
spring  from  His  eternal  and  inalienable  goodness. 
Consequently  the  piety  and  morality  He  requires  of 
His  responsible  creatures  must  have  their  intrinsic 
worth  solely  in  their  fitness  to  promote  and  insure 
the  nurture  and  growth  in  such  creatures  of  all  the 
higher  and  diviner  attributes  of  their  natures  and 
therewith  their  highest  well-being  in  all  the  relations 
which  they  sustain  to  Him,  to  one  another,  and  to 
the  universe.  He  requires  true  piety  for  the  sake  of 
inducing  and  securing  true  morality,  and  true  moral- 
ity for  the  sake  of  the  order,  harmony,  mutual 
helpfulness,  and  the  enduring  happiness  of  His 
creation,  a  consummation  which  would  otherwise  be 
impossible. 

2.  The  morality  of  Christianity  is  the  final  test 
of  its  absolute  divine  excellence  over  that  of  all 
other  religions  and  philosophies.  Miracles,  however 
well  authenticated,  genuine,  and  wonderful,  are  not  the 
final  and  all-sufificient  test  of  truth  or  of  any  system 
of  faith.  Historic  records  are  not.  Ecclesiastical 
dicta  or  institutions  are  not.  Nothing  but  the  con- 
sent and  approval  of  an  enlightened  judgment  and 
all  the  nobler  qualities  of  the  soul  reinforced  by 
beneficent  and  happy  results  in  character  and  life, 
can  be  accepted  as  satisfactory  proofs  and  grounds 
of    belief    in    matters    of    this    sort.     The    ultimate 


90  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

proof  is,  "The  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit."     In  this 
way  and  only  in   this  way  must  it  be  fairly  demon- 
strated   that   Jesus    of    Nazareth   taught   and    exem- 
plified   a    higher,    truer    morality  than   is    embodied 
in   any  other    ethical   system    known    to    our  world- 
This  morality,  the  primitive  Christian  morality,  must 
be  shown  to  embrace  all  the  essential  virtues  to   be 
found  in    any  and   every  other    system,  whether    of 
faith  or  philosophy,  and  also  to  exclude  all  their  radi- 
cal defects  and  vices  whether  of  precept,  of  funda- 
mental principle,  or  of   required  duties  in    practical 
life.     Nor   is    this    enough.     It    must    be    shown    to 
enjoin  virtues  and  insist  on  principles  of  action  and 
courses  of  conduct  more  unselfish,  disinterested,  and 
benevolent ;   more  pure,  holy,  and  God-like  than  are 
elsewhere  declared  and  urged  upon  human  attention, 
belief,  and  practice.     And  furthermore,  it    must  be 
shown  that  this  Primitive  Christianity,  when  clearly 
understood  and  given  the  mastery  of  the  hearts  and 
lives  of  men,  does  actually  produce  a  higher  type  of 
character,  a  nobler  order  of    manhood    and  woman- 
hood, a  diviner  humanity,  than  proceeds  from  any  and 
all    other   forms    of    faith    or    philosophy   that    have 
ever  been  submitted  for  consideration  and  acceptance 
to  the  intelligent,  moral  judgment  of  mankind.     This 
is  the  fruit  which  tests  and  determines  the  quality 
and  value  of  this  tree. 

And  if  all  this  cannot  be  fairly  shown  and  demon- 
strated, what  then  ?  What  but  that  Christianity  is 
only  one  among  many  rival  religions  or  philosophical 
systems,  on  about  the  same  moral  level,  perhaps  a 
little  higher  in  some  respects,  perhaps  a  little  lower 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  91 

in  others,  competing  with  the  rest  for  acknowledg- 
ment and  supremacy,  but  yet  like  them  an  imperfect 
system,  which  can  be,  ought  to  be,  and  must  be 
transcended  and  cast  forever  away  by  the  progress  of 
the  race  in  some  coming  generation  of  the  world's 
history.  As  for  me,  I  can  admit  nothing  of  the  sort. 
I  shall  contend  that  the  pure  Christian  morality  has 
in  it  all  the  good  without  any  of  the  evil  contained 
in  the  other  ethical  systems  of  the  world,  and  also 
that  it  transcends  them  all  in  its  highest  required 
virtues  and  duties.  Therefore,  as  thus  tested,  the 
genuine  Christianity  of  Christ  is  to  my  mind  the  one 
divinely  excellent  and  absolute  religion.  Neverthe- 
less, if  any  other  can  be  fairly  shown  to  present  to 
the  enlightened  judgment  of  mankind  a  positively 
and  demonstrably  higher  morality  than  Christ  taught 
and  exemplified,  then  I  will  yield  my  reverence  for 
-the  religion  of  the  Gospel  and  transfer  it  to  the 
more  deserving  and  defensible  claimant.     But 

3.  In  trying  this  case  I  shall  insist  on  truth, 
justice,  and  impartiality  —  on  perfect  candor  and 
fairness.  And  first  I  shall  demand  that  the  original,, 
pure  Christianity  of  Christ  shall  be  tried,  and  not 
some  degenerate  form  of  religion  which  has  sprung 
up  in  later  times  and  been  masquerading  before  the 
world  under  Christ's  sacred  name.  Next,  I  shall 
demand  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament 
shall  be  the  authority  chiefly  relied  upon  to  settle 
questions  of  fact  and  doctrine  in  the  case  and  not 
traditions  nor  metaphysical  inferences  —  still  less 
modern  theological  and  ethical  deductions  or  opinions. 
And  I  must  especially  insist  that  the  obvious,  unso- 


92  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

pbisticated,  and  sublime  teachings  of  Christ,  as 
learned  from  the  record,  fairly  interpreted  and  under- 
stood, shall  be  accepted  as  final  and  unquestionable  — 
not  be  nullified,  perverted,  or  transformed  by 
human  ignorance,  superstition,  prejudice,  casuistry, 
or  assumption.  These  to  me  are  indispensable  pre- 
requisites to  a  trustworthy  proceedure  in  such  an 
examination  as  I  have  undertaken. 

Suppose  a  class  of  opponents  to  the  claim  I  am 
making  should  come  forward  and  contend  that  they 
cared  nothing  for  the  type  of  Christianity  set  forth 
in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  thus  ignoring  the 
most  authentic  record  that  exists  of  the  utterances  of 
Christ  and  his  Apostles  and  of  their  example,  but 
should  assume  tJiat  and  that  only  to  be  Christianity 
which  the  church  during  the  last  fifteen  centuries  has 
claimed  and  taught  to  be  such,  would  that  be  just, 
truthful,  and  fair  .?  Not  in  my  judgment.  Nor  would 
I  trifle  with  the  subject  on  such  an  issue.  Suppose 
again  that  another  class  should  say:  "The  New  Tes- 
tament is  well  enough  in  its  place,  but  there  are  im- 
portant traditions  that  have  come  down  from  Jesus 
and  the  chosen  promulgators  of  his  Gospel  and  been 
carefully  preserved  by  their  anointed  successors  in 
the  church  which  he  founded  and  of  which  St.  Peter 
was  the  chief  corner-stone,  and  these  traditions  are 
of  equal  importance  and  credibility  with  the  testi- 
monies of  the  written  record  ;  they  greatly  modify 
that  record  and  constitute  no  inconsiderable  portion 
of  the  evidence  to  be  examined  and  weighed  in  an 
investigation  relating  to  the  primary  foundations  of 
Christian   faith  and  practice  —  relating  to  facts  and 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  93 

doctrines  connected  with  the  founding  of  our  reli- 
gion." What  proof  could  they  give  me  that  their 
traditions  are  reliable  and  worthy  of  consideration  ? 
Nothing  better  than  their  own  assertions  and  those 
of  their  predecessors  of  past  generations,  most  of 
them  lost  utterly  in  the  glimmering  uncertainty  of 
the  centuries  that  have  come  and  gone  since  the  age 
of  the  Apostles.  I  can  neither  in  reason  nor  in 
good  conscience  yield  to  any  such  assumptions. 
And  then,  in  addition  to  the  two  supposed  classes  of 
casuists  referred  to,  there  really  appears  a  motley 
troop  of  theologians,  metaphysicians,  jurists,  states- 
men, politicians,  warriors,  merchants,  bankers,  and 
others  living  on  the  common  plane  of  worldly,  self- 
seeking  expediency  and  attainment,  all  claiming  to 
be  Christians  and  all  professing  to  be  governed  by 
what  they  understand  to  be  New  Testament  moral- 
ity ;  but  they  must  be  allowed  to  interpret  and  apply 
the  principles  and  precepts  of  the  Gospel  after  their 
own  fashion  —  in  such  a  way  as  to  justify  themselves 
in  their  own  chosen  positions  and  pursuits ;  after 
the  law  of  a  carnal  commandment  and  not  after 
the  power  of  an  endless  life  ;  that  is,  not  after  the 
eternal  commandment  of  God.  By  which  they  really 
mean  that  the  principles,  maxims,  habits,  customs, 
fashions,  and  usages  of  society,  as  at  present  consti- 
tuted and  operating,  shall  be  allowed  the  sanction 
of  Christ's  teaching,  even  though  in  important  and 
vital  respects  they  may  be  practically  in  open  hostil- 
ity to  it.  They  hold  nominally  to  Christianity  and 
its  holy  principles  and  precepts,  but  it  is  as  they 
understand  them.     They  understand  them  in  a  sense 


94  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

not  conformed  to  the  conclusions  of  sound  exegesis 
and  just  criticism  but  in  a  sense  accommodated  to 
their  own  personal  convenience,  taste,  inclination,  or 
ambition,  and  thus  make  them  of  little  or  no  reform- 
atory, uplifting,  saving  effect;  thus  rob  them  of 
their  distinctive  excellence  and  divinely  redeeming 
power.  I  consent  to  no  strategy  of  this  sort.  Let 
us  first  of  all  things  beside  honestly  consider  and 
fairly  ascertain  what  Christ  himself  meant  to  require 
in  his  testimonies  concerning  truth  and  duty,  how- 
ever they  agree  with  or  differ  from  the  dominant 
theories  and  practices  of  this  world.  Then  let  us  be 
fully  persuaded  in  our  own  minds  whether  the  right- 
eousness he  teaches,  illustrates,  and  enjoins  upon 
those  who  enroll  themselves  as  his  disciples  and  bear 
his  name  is  absolutely  divine  and  perfect,  worthy  of 
hearty  acceptation,  or  merely  human,  imperfect,  and 
of  doubtful  truth  and  utility.  If  the  former  let  us 
reverently  acknowledge  it,  bow  to  it,  receive  it  into 
good  and  honest  hearts,  and  endeavor  to  exemplify  it 
in  thought  and  conduct; — strive  to  approximate  it  in 
character  and  in  lite.  If  the  latter,  Christ  must,  of 
course,  in  our  judgment,  take  rank  with  other  emi- 
nent religionists  that  from  time  to  time  have 
appeared  in  the  world  and  his  morality  with  the 
ethical  theories  which  they  have  devised  and  offered 
to  the  intelligent  consideration  and  moral  judgment 
of  mankind.  Then,  as  some  of  our  pretentious  pro 
gressive  prophets  openly  tell  us,  we  must  each  and 
all  be  our  own  Christs  and  pick  our  moral  pathway 
as  best  we  can  through  the  wilderness  of  human 
speculation,  hypothesis,  and  experiment.     For  one  I 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  95 

choose  to  follow,  not  unthinkingly  and  blindly  but 
intelligently  and  conscientiously,  The  Christ,  as  I 
find  him  revealed  and  manifested  in  the  man  of 
Nazareth. 

4.  Another  thing  I  shall  insist  on  in  this  investi- 
gation. It  is  that  in  setting  forth  and  magnifying 
what  I  hold  to  be  the  morality  of  the  Gospel,  I  do 
not  in  any  wise  or  to  the  smallest  extent  ignore  or 
invalidate  what  the  sometimes  abused  term  Christian 
regeneration  stands  for  in  religious  literature,  or 
any  of  the  great  experimental  spiritual  verities  of 
the  Christian  life.  "  O,  you  take  it  for  granted," 
some  zealot  of  a  narrow  pietism  might  be  inclined  to 
say  by  way  of  objecting  to  my  views,  "that  what 
you  call  pure  morality,  good  conduct,  righteousness, 
constitutes  the  primal  excellence  of  religion,  and 
that  every  human  being  can  at  once  proceed  to 
practice  all  the  virtues  which  the  New  Testament 
commends  and  enjoins  after  the  manner  of  outward 
conformity  to  a  prescribed  set  of  rules,  without  any 
such  internal,  subjective  exercise  or  experience  as 
is  represented  by  the  terms  faith,  repentance, 
reconciliation  to  God  —  without  what  is  called,  in 
religious  phraseology,  regeneration,  growth  in  grace 
and  in  the  knowledge  of  God."  I  do,  indeed,  main- 
tain that  pure  morality  is  the  crowning  excellence  of 
the  true  Christian  religion,  and  that  no  religion  has 
any  intrinsic  value  or  imperative  claim  upon  the 
souls  of  men  which  does  not  require  absolutely  and 
unequivocally  that  those  receiving  it  and  professing 
to  represent  it  before  God  and  man  shall  be  emi- 
nently moral ;  that  is,  shall  bring  forth  good   fruit  in 


96  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

their  common  everyday  life.  But  at  the  same  time  I 
deny  the  charge,  open  or  implied,  of  ignoring  or  dis- 
paraging spiritual  regeneration,  much  more  of  trifling 
with  or  scoffing  at  it.  I  would  rather  carefully 
affirm  not  only  its  importance  but  its  necessity.  I 
am  not  so  foolish,  nor  am  I  so  much  a  stranger  to 
the  inward  processes  by  which  a  soul  enslaved  to 
selfish  and  sinful  inclinations,  passions,  habits,  and 
practices,  breaks  away  from  its  thraldom  and  rises 
into  an  enjoyment  of  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ 
maketh  free,  as  to  suppose  that  evil-doers  can  put 
away  their  iniquity  and  guilt  and  bring  forth  the 
blessed  fruits  of  Christian  righteousness,  whether  of 
piety  or  morality,  without  faith  in  the  being  and 
infinite  goodness  of  God,  sincere  sorrow  for  all 
wrong  done  or  contemplated,  and  a  sense  of  recon- 
ciliation with  Him  against  whom  they  have  offended 
and  by  whose  helping  strength  and  grace  they  are  to 
come  off  conquerors  over  all  their  spiritual  foes.  If 
they  have  no  confidence  in  the  heavenly  Father's 
existence,  perfections,  and  gracious  helpfulness ;  no 
conviction  of  wrong  thought  and  conduct,  and  no  pro- 
found regret  for  the  same  ;  no  heartfelt  desire  to 
lead  a  better  life ;  no  cheering  assurance  that  God 
accepts  them  as  His  wayward  but  penitent  children, 
ready  to  strive  henceforth  with  His  vouchsafed  aid 
to  bring  forth  fruits  unto  holiness,  then  I  have  no 
reason  to  expect  anything  but  that  they  will  continue 
in  sin  —  continue  to  be  carnally-minded,  foolish, 
wicked,  and  miserable  in  various  degrees  ;  and  thus 
continuing,  be  rendered  incapable,  not  by  divine 
decree  nor  by  native    moral    inability,  but  by  their 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  97 

own  indisposition,  spiritual  insensibility,  lack  of 
appreciation  and  aspiration,  of  entering  into  the 
experiences  of  the  higher  and  better  life,  —  incapa- 
ble of  practicing  in  any  effectual  way  the  pure  moral- 
ity of  the  primitive  Christian  faith.  Nevertheless,  I 
preach  that  morality  to  them,  and  declare  my  testi- 
mony faithfully  and  hopefully,  whether  they  will 
hear  or  forbear,  because  I  am  persuaded  that  in 
their  inmost  souls  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  which  is 
ever  going  forth  seeking  to  save  the  lost,  will  sooner 
or  later  make  them  feel  somewhat  its  excellence, 
beauty,  and  power,  in  spite  of  their  sinfulness  ;  and 
also  because  I  believe  and  feel  that  the  truth  I  am 
commissioned  to  present  to  them  will  become  in  due 
time  within  them  the  seed  of  reformation,  —  the 
power  of  a  renewed  and  ever-ascending  life. 

But  here  comes  the  significant  question  ;  Of  what 
real  worth  or  use  is  any  faith,  penitence,  reconcilia- 
tion or  regenerative  influence  or  discipline,  which 
does  not  ripen  into  fruits  of  holy  obedience  to  the 
divine  law ;  into  active,  steadfast,  personal  righteous- 
ness ;  into  pure  Christ-like  morality  ?  None  what- 
ever. For  this  is  the  grand  purpose  and  end  unto 
which  all  faith,  repentance,  and  regenerative  proc- 
esses must  come,  as  the  proof  and  assurance  of 
their  worth  and  validity.  And  I  consequently  treat 
the  whole  subject  under  notice  accordingly;  reject- 
ing all  notions  which  assume  or  imply  that  there  is 
or  can  be,  under  the  divine  economy  as  represented 
by  Christ,  any  salvation  without  personal  righteous- 
ness ;  any  redeeming  exercise,  quality,  or  attitude  of 
the  mind  and  heart  which  does  not  deliver  men  from 


98  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

both  the  love  and  commission  of  sin  and  establish 
them  in  the  opposite  —  the  love  and  practice  of  holi- 
ness. By  its  fruits  must  the  tree  be  known.  Pure 
morality,  a  lofty  type  of  character,  a  practical  Chris- 
tian life,  is  the  only  conclusive  demonstration  of  true 
faith,  genuine  repentance,  real  regeneration. 

5.  One  other  observation  before  I  close.  Some 
people  object  to  holding  up  so  high  a  standard  of 
duty  and  righteousness  and  insisting  upon  it  so 
uncompromisingly  on  the  ground  that  by  doing  so  it 
is  implied  that  it  is  immediately  practicable  by 
human  beings  in  their  present  state  of  development, 
and  that  just  allowance  is  not  made  for  the  weakness 
and  imperfection  of  those  who  may  not  attain  to 
perfect  obedience  or  conformity  to  it.  God  forbid. 
I  know  too  well  the  limitations  that  hedge  men  in 
and  that  prevent  them  from  realizing  even  their  own 
best  ideals,  both  by  sad  experience  and  general 
observation.  But  I  also  know  that  helping  agencies 
are  at  hand  to  supplement  mortal  imfirmity  and  aid 
the  aspiring,  struggling  soul  in  its  endeavors  to  gain 
a  higher  and  better  life  for  itself  and  for  the  world. 
I  know  that  while  it  is  in  a  certain  important  sense 
true  that  we  are  to  "  work  out  our  own  salvation  with 
fear  and  trembling,"  it  is  at  the  same  time  God  who 
"  worketh  in  us  both  to  will  and  do  of  his  own  good 
pleasure."  He  guarantees  His  own  divine  strength 
to  enable  all  devout  and  earnest  souls  to  perform  the 
duties  He  requires  at  their  hands;  as  it  is  written, 
"  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee  ;  for  my  strength  is 
made  perfect  in  thy  weakness." — 2  Cor.  xii.  9.  Our 
heavenly  Father  who  lays  upon  us  the  sacred  burden 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  99 

of  personal  responsibility  with  all  it  involves  of  con- 
secration to  His  service  and  of  fidelity  to  the  great 
trusts  of  life,  is  not  a  hard  and  cruel  task-master, 
holding  us  rigidly  to  the  performance  of  duties  too 
onerous  for  our  mortal  ability  to  perform,  but  the 
most  just,  considerate,  and  gracious  of  all  beings. 
He  knows,  indeed,  that  no  one  of  us  can  rise  to  the 
fulfillment  of  His  benign  and  glorious  purpose  con- 
cerning us  and  be  happy  without  obedience  to  His 
holy  law  of  righteousness.  He  therefore  demands 
perfect  obedience  as  the  condition  and  pledge  of  the 
highest  possible  attainment  and  of  perfect  bliss. 
But  he  also  "knoweth  our  frame,  he  remembereth  we 
are  dust."  He  knoweth  our  frailty  and  our  need  of 
His  wisely  and  beneficently  vouchsafed  help.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  He  exhorts  and  counsels  us  to 
draw  near  to  Him  that  He  may  draw  near  to  us,  in 
the  assurance  that  we  may  find  in  Him  **the  grace  to 
help  in  time  of  need,"  Let  us  do  the  best  we  can 
for  ourselves  in  the  line  of  His  commandments,  and 
trust  Him  for  the  rest. 

And  as  to  making  allowance  for  imperfection  and 
short-comings,  let  us  remember  that  inasmuch  as 
God  does  this  for  us  we  are  thereby  placed  under 
solemn  obligations  to  do  it  for  one  another.  Not, 
however,  by  ever  lowering  the  moral  standard  set 
up  by  Christ  —  not  by  calling  evil  good  and  wrong 
right  —  not  by  falsification  or  flattery  —  but  only  by 
steadfast  adherence  to  what  is  eternally  true  and 
just  and  immutably  righteous,  tempered  by  that 
merciful  charity  which  without  harsh  accusation  or 
vindictive  judgment,  says,   "Go  and  sin  no  more"; 


100  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

"Try  again";  "Come  up  higher."  Thus  will  the 
pure  morality  of  the  Christian  Gospel  be  uncomprom- 
isingly maintained  and  glorified  in  divine  union 
with  the  most  thoughtful,  tender,  forgiving  charity  ; 
thus  will  "mercy  and  truth  meet  together  and  right- 
eousness and  peace  will  kiss  each  other  "  ;  and  in  so 
far  as  man  is  thereby  truly  blest,  God  will  be  corre- 
spondingly glorified. 


DISCOURSE  VIII. 

Oy  THE  FUNDAMENTAL    VIRTVE  OF  HUMILITY. 

"  At  the  same  time  came  the  disciples  unto  Jesus,  saying, 
Who  is  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ?  And  Jesus 
called  a  little  child  unto  him  and  set  him  in  the  midst  of  them ; 
and  said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Except  ye  be  converted  and 
become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  Whosoever  therefore  shall  humble  himself  as  this 
little  child,  the  same  is  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  — 
Matt,  xviii.  1-4. 

My  last  discourse  was  preparatory  to  the  considera- 
tion in  detail  of  the  pure  morality  of  Primitive  Chris- 
tianity. There  are  several  fundamental  virtues  and 
certain  special  ones  of  signal  importance  inculcated 
and  emphasized  by  the  great  Teacher  of  our  holy  reli- 
gion, each  of  which  requires  careful  and  adequate 
exposition,  before  proceeding  to  speak  of  the  errors 
and  abuses  which,  after  a  brief  period,  come  in  to 
degrade  and  vitiate  this  department  of  Christian 
duty  and  righteousness.  It  seems  to  be  in  logical 
order  to  begin  with  Humility, 

"  that  low  sweet  root. 
From  which  all  heavenly  virtues  shoot "  ; 

which  lies  at  the  very  basis  of  all  excellence  and  is 
the  primary  condition  of  all  growth  in  the  things  of 


102  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

the  divine  life.  It  is  an  essential  element  of  piety 
no  less  than  of  morality ;  but  we  are  now  to  treat  of 
it  in  its  relation  to  the  latter,  and  as  an  indispensable 
constituent  of  the  ethics  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
No  one  can  read  the  sayings  of  Jesus  or  study  the 
record  of  his  ministry  upon  the  earth,  without  seeing 
that  humility  is  the  chief  corner-stone  of  that  per- 
sonal righteousness  which  pre-eminently  distinguishes 
the  religion  which  he  lived,  suffered,  and  died  to 
establish  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men.  And  his 
Apostles  bear  testimony  accordingly,  of  which  an 
ample  array  of  texts  could  be  adduced  were  it 
deemed  necessary.     But  what  is  humility  ? 

I.  It  is  the  moral  opposite  of  pride,  and  can  be 
the  more  easily  and  clearly  apprehended  when  put  in 
contrast  with  that  unhallowed  sentiment,  impulse,  or 
passion.  Pride  is  inordinate  self-esteem.  Humility 
\s  J2ist  self-esteem.  Whoever  estimates  himself  in 
any  respect  above  what  he  really  is,  beyond  his 
actual  merit,  all  things  considered,  is  proud.  He 
who  estimates  himself  truthfully,  according  to  his 
exact  abilities,  attainments,  and  deserts,  all  things 
considered,  is  humble.  There  is  a  righteous  self- 
esteem,  self-appreciation,  self-respect,  which  has  no 
pride  in  it ;  which  is  really  virtuous  and  which  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  all  true  nobility  of  character. 
There  is  a  tameness,  slavishness,  cowardliness,  base- 
ness, meanness  of  soul,  sometimes  mistaken  for 
humility,  which  has  no  true  humility  in  it ;  which 
is  really  vicious ;  and  which  pre -disposes  to  all  that 
is  morally  abhorrent  in  character.  We  should  be 
very  careful    not  to  confound  just   self-esteem  with 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  103 

pride,  nor  baseness  of  spirit  with  humility.  The 
pure  primitive  Christian  morality  excludes  and  for- 
bids all  such  confusion.  It  requires  every  person  to 
estimate  him  or  herself  at  actual  worth  ;  neither  above 
nor  below  when  judged  by  the  Christian  standard. 
The  great  danger  in  this  matter  is  over-estimation 
and  the  common  vice  is  pride.  Hence  the  manifold 
warnings  and  injunctions  of  Scripture  and  high 
moralists  against  these. 

2.  How  can  we  clearly  understand  and  determine 
our  real  worth  ?  It  is  very  difficult  to  do  so  per- 
fectly. But  we  can  do  it  proximately  by  sober 
thought  and  reflection.  ''Know  thyself"  is  the  dic- 
tate alike  of  both  the  highest  philosophy  and  the 
highest  religion.  For  in  knowing  ourselves  we  not 
only  find  out  what  we  really  are  and  what  we  are  not, 
but  we  learn  also  our  relationship  to  other  beings  ; 
how  far  we  are  dependent  on  them,  what  we  owe 
them,  and  how  we  ought  to  treat  them.  We  soon 
come  to  know  that  we  are  not  infinite  but  very  finite  ; 
not  self-existent  but  created  ;  not  sure  of  life,  but 
subject  to  death  ;  not  from  all  eternity,  but  of  yester- 
day ;  not  infallibly  wise,  but  ignorant  and  foolish  in 
many  respects  ;  not  immaculate  and  holy,  but  sinful  ; 
not  all-powerful,  but,  at  best,  weak  and  feeble  ;  not 
gods,  but  men  —  frail  and  imperfect  human  beings. 
We  find  our  fellow-creatures  the  wide  world  over 
much  like  ourselves,  akin  to  us  by  nature,  partakers 
with  us  in  good  and  evil,  more  or  less  ;  in  fine,  mem- 
bers of  the  same  common  family  ;  that  they  must  be 
the  products  of  the  same  creative  power  —  the  off- 
spring of    the  same    divine    Parent  ;     that    they  are 


104  PRIM[TIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

dependent  on  us  and  we  on  them  for  much  of  happi- 
ness ;  that  they  can  harm  us  and  we  them  in  a 
thousand  ways  ;  that  it  is  best  for  us  and  for  them 
to  be  friends  and  to  treat  each  other  in  a  friendly 
way.  Continuing  our  inquiries  we  at  length  learn 
that  the  lower  orders  of  creation  —  the  animal  world 
and  inanimate  things,  must  be  used  wisely  as  not 
abusing  them.  Thus  we  gain  a  knowledge  not  only 
of  ourselves  but  of  our  Maker  and  our  fellow-beings  ; 
of  our  duty  and  of  true  religion.  And  the  more  we 
learn  of  all  these  things,  the  more  nearly  do  we  esti- 
mate ourselves  at  our  real  worth  ;  the  more  do  we 
renounce  pride  and  become  clothed  in  the  raiment 
of  true  humility.  Perfection  in  this  as  in  every 
other  virtue,  or  pre-eminence  even,  is  of  slow  growth 
and  a  long  sought  attainment.  But  we  may  and 
must  have  a  modicum  at  least  of  this  quality  to 
begin  our  upward  career  with,  or  we  cannot  take  the 
first  steps  therein,  much  less  enter  heaven.  And 
why  not  ?     Because, 

3.  We  shall  be  too  conceited  to  receive  instruc- 
tion in  the  truths  of  the  divine  kingdom,  too 
self-righteous  to  feel  the  need  of  repentance  and 
reformation,  too  haughty  to  confess  our  follies  and 
sins,  even  if  convinced  of  them,  and  too  proud 
and  self-sufficient  to  obey  rightful  authority,  even 
the  authority  of  God.  This  is  why  we  cannot  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  as  Jesus  said,  without 
becoming  as  little  children  ;  without  having;  the  con- 
fiding,  docile,  teachable,  childlike  spirit.  Wanting 
that  spirit  we  will  not  be  instructed,  will  not  seek  to 
mend  our  ways  and  better  our  lives,  will  not  acknovvl- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  105 

edge  our  transgression  and  our  guilt,  will  not  be 
governed  by  Him  whose  right  it  is  to  rule  over  us, 
though  it  be  for  our  highest  and  most  enduring 
good.  We  are  too  well  satisfied  with  ourselves,  too 
vain-glorious,  to  become  wiser  and  better.  Recog- 
nizing no  obligations  to  grow  in  grace  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  God  and  feeling  no  need  of  such 
growth,  we  remain  ignorant,  foolish,  perverse,  mor- 
ally deficient,  restless,  miserable.  How  many  are  in 
this  unfortunate,  deplorable  state  ! 

4.  Pride,  or  the  lack  of  humility,  is  equally  mis- 
chievous and  hateful  in  aggravating  our  social  mis- 
conduct and  multiplying  the  evils  incident  to  the 
relations  we  sustain  to  our  fellow-men.  It  renders 
us  insolent,  sycophantic,  contemptuous,  hypocritical, 
or  hateful  towards  our  superiors  ;  jealous  and  war- 
like towards  our  competitors  ;  domineering  and  abu- 
sive towards  our  dependents ;  impertinent,  unkind, 
or  neglectful  towards  strangers  ;  bigoted,  denuncia- 
tory, and  persecuting  towards  those  who  may  differ 
from  us,  however  honest  and  upright  they  may  be  ; 
eager  to  punish  all  classes  of  offenders  ;  revengeful 
towards  any  who  wrong  or  injure  us  ;  implacable  and 
unforgiving  towards  enemies  ;  and  often  uncomforta- 
ble and  annoying,  if  not  offensive  and  vexatious,  to 
our  best  friends.  Nothing  of  all  this  accords  with 
pure  Christian  morality,  with  social  harmony  and 
happiness,  or  with  human  progress  towards  perfec- 
tion. It  is  all  wrong  and  worthy  only  of  execration, 
and  must  be  superseded  by  humility,  or  we  have 
discord  and  confusion  rather  than  order,  unity,  peace, 
brotherhood  ;  hell,  and  not  heaven. 


106  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

5.  Pride  poisons  and  paralyzes  every  virtue  with 
which  it  is  allowed  to  co-exist  in  any  one,  and  to  the 
extent  of  its  indulgence  and  effrontery.  No  matter 
how  moral  or  exemplary  people  may  be  in  other 
respects,  if  this  odious  vice  reigns  in  them,  it  dulls 
their  most  shining  qualities  of  soul,  neutralizes  their 
best  influence,  detracts  from  their  noblest  perform- 
ances and  even  sours  their  charities.  It  is  a  drag-on 
with  poisoned  fangs  though  caged  in  the  bosom  of  a 
saint.  It  is  a  deadly  bane  to  all  heavenly  feelings, 
motives,  words,  and  deeds.  Its  only  neutralizing 
agency  and  sure  antidote  is  humility.  This  gives  the 
proper  balance  to  the  soul  and  imparts  health,  vigor, 
and  beauty  to  all  other  excellences  of  character.  It 
can  pluck  from  iniquity  itself  the  sharpest  sting  and 
render  tolerable  sinners  who  otherwise  could  hardly 
be  endured. 

Let  us  fix  our  attention  then  with  heartfelt 
approval,  yea,  with  admiration  and  profound  rever- 
ence, on  this  fundamental  virtue  of  humility  as  it 
shines  forth  from  its  paramount  place  in  Primitive 
Christianity,  and  especially  as  it  found  illustration 
in  Christ  himself  through  both  precept  and  example. 
How  true,  pure,  and  perfect  was  his  character  in 
this  respect  !  Did  he  not  speak  wisely  and  justly 
when  he  said  *' I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart.?" 
And  yet  did  he  ever  depreciate  or  dishonor  his  own 
moral  dignity,  worth,  responsibility,  or  authority  > 
Did  he  ever  underestimate  himself.?  ever  cower, 
cringe,  or  debase  himself  before  the  face  of  men  .? 
or  in  any  way  sink  himself  below  his  own  proper 
level  as  the  great  spiritual  Teacher  and    Leader  of 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  107 

mankind  to  their  divinely  ordained  and  glorious 
destiny  ?  ever  show  himself  to  be  tame,  spiritless, 
servile  ?  Never.  And  now,  on  the  other  hand,  did 
he  ever  over-estimate  himself,  assume  false  impor- 
tance before  God  or  man,  or  exempt  himself  from 
the  most  menial  ofifices  of  usefulness  and  benefi- 
cence ?  Did  he  ever  deride  or  despise  the  poorest 
speciman  of  humanity,  the  most  guilty  sinner,  or 
the  vilest  wretch  ?  Never.  The  only  instances  in 
which  he  seemed  especially  stern  and  severe  — 
in  which  he  has  been  charged  by  his  critics  with 
harshness  and  cruelty,  are  those  wherein  he  rebuked 
and  denounced  pride  and  self-righteousness.  In  his 
day  there  were  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  rulers  and 
lordly  officials  in  both  church  and  state,  notoriously 
haughty,  bigoted,  tyrannical,  covetous,  persecuting, 
hypocritical.  Was  it  unbecoming  the  prince  of 
humility  and  meekness  to  arraign  such  at  the  bar 
of  righteous  judgment  and  visit  them  with  stern  and 
uncompromising  reproof  and  condemnation  ?  Was 
it  out  of  place  and  out  of  divine  order  for  the  great 
Teacher  of  absolute  truth  and  righteousness  to 
upbraid  them  and  forewarn  them  of  the  bitter  woes 
they  were  treasuring  up  for  themselves  under  the 
government  of  a  just  God  against  the  inevitable  day 
of  retribution  ?  Could  he  have  loved  humility  and 
been  true  to  its  imperative  demands  and  not  have 
hated  pride  in  these  its  worst  forms,  and  declared  in 
terms  not  to  be  misapprehended  what  must  be  the 
consequences  of  persistently  and  flagrantly  cherish- 
ing and  indulging  it  ?  Could  he  have  preached 
humility  to   any  good    purpose  without    reprobating 


108 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 


its  opposite,  conceit  and  haughtiness  ?  Could  he 
have  been  the  true  Christ  and  approved  those  guilty 
of  arrogance  and  hypocritical  pretence?  or  flattered 
them  ?  or  excused  and  condoned  their  vices  without 
testifying  boldly  and  unequivocally  against  them  as 
utterly  repugnant  to  the  fundamental  principles  of 
morality  and  to  human  happiness  ?  Surely  not. 
Yet  he  was  not  the  enemy  even  of  such  sinners  but 
their  true  friend.  For  after  having  faithfully 
reproved  them,  he  sat  down  and  wept  for  them  as 
he  did  over  the  city  upon  which  their  iniquity  was 
bringing  a  swift  and  terrible  destruction.  (Read 
Matt,  xxiii.  36-39.) 

If  we  still  further  scrutinize  the  humility  of 
Christ,  we  shall  find  it  to  have  been  a  pre-eminent 
characteristic  of  him  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
of  his  earthly  career.  He  never  exalted  himself  by 
degrading  others;  never  enriched  himself  by  impov- 
erishing others  ;  never  surrounded  himself  with 
personal  comforts  and  luxuries  by  depriving  others 
of  the  same;  but  always  exemplified  the  opposite 
spirit  and  purpose.  Nor  did  he  ever  countenance  or 
encourage  his  disciples  in  acting  contrary  to  the 
same  spirit  and  purpose  by  which  he  was  animated 
and  guided.  In  respect  to  this  as  to  every  other 
virtue  and  to  the  whole  course  of  their  lives,  he 
enjoined  upon  them  the  imperative  duty  of  imitating 
him.  Recall  his  searching  and  beautiful  exhortation 
with  its  accompanying  promise,  "Take  my  yoke 
upon  you  and  learn  of  me ;  For  I  am  meek  and 
lowly  in  heart;  and  ye  shall  find  rest  to  your  souls." 
—  Matt.    xi.    29.      Also    his     precepts,     "  VVhosover 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  109 

shall  humble  himself  as  this  little  child,  the  same  is 
ojreatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  — Matt,  xviii.  4. 
"  Whosoever  exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased  and  he 
that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted."  — Luke  xiv. 
II.  "Whosoever  will  be  chief  among  you  let  him 
be  your  servant  ;  even  as  the  son  of  man  came  not 
to  be  ministered  unto  but  to  minister,  and  to  give 
his  life  a  ransom  for  many." — Matt.  xx.  27,  28. 
"  If  I,  your  Lord  and  Master,  have  washed  your  feet, 
ye  also  ought  to  wash  one  another's  feet.  For  I 
have  given  you  an  example,  that  ye  should  do  as  I 
have  done  unto  you."  — JoJui  xiii.    14,  15. 

Well  did  his  Apostles  reiterate  and  magnify  their 
Master's  example  and  precepts.  Thus,  Paul,  as  a 
faithful  representative  of  them  all,  says;  ''These 
hands  have  ministered  to  my  necessities  and  ta 
those  that  were  with  me.  I  have  showed  you  all 
things,  how  that  so  laboring  ye  ought  to  support  the 
weak,  and  to  remember  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
how  he  said,  *  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to 
receive.'  "  —  Acts  xx.  34,  35.  **  Let  nothing  be  done 
through  strife  or  vainglory;  but  in  lowliness  of  mind 
let  each  esteem  others  better  than  themselves." 
"  Let  this  mind  be  in  you  which  was  also  in  Christ 
Jesus." — Phil.  ii.  3,  5.  "Put  on  therefore,  as  the 
elect  of  God,  holy  and  beloved,  bowels  of  mercies, 
kindness,  humbleness  of  mind,  meekness,  long-suffer- 
ing."—  Col.  iii.  12.  Are  not  these  precepts  "like 
apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver  }  " 

Such  is  the  pure  Primitive  Christianity  in  respect 
to  this  fundamental  virtue  of  humility.  Can  we  con- 
ceive of  anything  higher,  sublimer,  or  more  beautiful 


110  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

in  this  branch  of  moraUty  ?  What  if  nominal  Chris- 
tendom had  always  exemplified  this  exalted  virtue  ! 
AVhat  if  the  professed  Christian  church  had  done  so  ! 
What  if  a  single  denomination  of  those  bearing  the 
Christian  name  !  What  a  glorious  sight  would  we 
behold  if  a  regenerate  Church  should  arise  to  do 
this  ?  a  reo^enerate  Christendom  ?  a  resfenerate 
world?  Let  these  questions  suggest  their  appro- 
priate answers  and  a  thousand  wholesome  comments 
not  now  convenient  to  be  made.  And  let  us  farther 
inquire  if  there  be  any  defect  in  the  primitive  theory 
of  the  essential  worth  and  importance  of  the  virtue 
of  humility  in  the  Christian  system  of  morality  and 
in  the  rightful  ordering  of  human  life?  Or  any 
fault  to  be  found  with  its  illustrious  model,  the 
Founder  of  our  faith  ?  Can  individuals,  families, 
communities,  nations,  or  the  race  of  mankind,  ever 
be  truly  holy  and  happy  without  such  humility  as 
has  been  set  forth  ?  Is  not  pride  in  all  its  phases 
and  manifestations  an  offence  against  pure  Christian 
morality  and  a  bane  to  human  welfare  ?  Who  can 
deny,  dispute,  or  doubt  the  truth  implied  in  these 
interrogatories  ? 

What  then  can  we  do  individually  and  socially,  in 
behalf  of  this  cardinal  virtue  against  its  vicious  oppo- 
site; —  to  embrace,  cultivate,  cherish,  and  promote 
pure  humility  among  men  — to  abjure  and  renounce 
pride  and  exterminate  it  from  our  own  hearts  and 
from  the  world  ?  Moral  fidelity  and  progress  impera- 
tively demand  that  we  do  our  best  in  the  furtherance 
of  those  important  ends.  We  all  detest  pride  in 
other  people.     Why  can  we  not  detect  and  abhor  it 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  Ill 

in  ourselves  ?  We  all  admire  and  commend  humil- 
ity in  those  about  us.  .  Why  can  we  not  nourish  it 
in  our  own  hearts  and  exemplify  it  in  our  lives  ?  If 
we  look  up  to  our  heavenly  Father,  the  greatest  and 
best  of  beings,  the  infinitely  perfect  One,  behold,  we 
find  in  Him  the  most  wonderful  and  sublime  humil- 
ity. The  splendors  of  His  throne  shine  forth  in 
unpretentious  simplicity  and  severity  ;  they  fill  the 
vast  reaches  of  universal  being  with  their  uncon- 
scious glory.  He  does  not  hold  himself  in  any  proper 
sense  above  and  aloof  from  the  least  of  the  creatures 
He  has  made.  Not  a  being  or  thing  in  His  far-reach- 
ing dominion  is  beneath  His  notice  and  His  care  ; 
not  a  single  soul  bearing  His  image  and  likeness, 
however  lowly,  degraded,  or  sinful,  is  beyond  the 
reach  of  His  tireless  vision  or  of  His  merciful  provi- 
dence,—  no,  not  a  worm  of  the  dust  or  a  mote  in 
the  sunbeam  is  left  unguarded  and  uncared  for  by 
Him.  No  arrogance  or  haughty  disdain  and  con- 
tempt ever  brings  reproach  upon  the  name  of  the 
Most  High  and  Most  Holy,  or  in  any  way  vitiates 
the  order  of  His  government  in  any  department  or 
province  of  His  vast  empire.  *'He  is  good  to  all 
and  his  tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works." 

So  if  we  contemplate  His  model  son,  as  he  lived, 
suffered,  and  died  here  upon  earth,  or  as  he  reigns  in 
mediatorial  glory  above,  no  self-exaltation  or  con- 
temptuous pride  stains  his  royal  robe  or  disfigures 
the  beauty  of  his  holiness.  What  he  would  have  his 
disciples  be,  he  ivas  and  is  —  "meek  and  lowly  in 
heart,"  "the  same  yesterday,  today,  and  forever," 
perpetually  rebuking  our  selfishness  and   pride,   and 


112  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

saying  to  us,  **  Follow  me."  If  we  aspire  to  enter 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  be  joined  in  holy  friend- 
ship with  the  innumerable  company  of  angels  and 
spirits  of  the  redeemed,  it  is  well  for  us  to  know 
that  no  pride  can  have  a  place  there.  In  that  blessed 
realm  the  greatest  are  the  humblest;  the  mightiest, 
meekest;  and  the  most  renowned  are  as  innocent, 
teachable,  little  children.  Do  we  pray  that  this 
kingdom  may  come  to  our  world  and  that  the  will  of 
God  may  be  done  on  earth  as  in  heaven  ?  Then 
surely  we  cannot  consent  that  pride  should  continue 
its  arrogant  rule  among  men,  making  them  contemn, 
despise,  trample  upon,  and  devour  one  another.  No ; 
for  all  pride  is  of  hell,  a  prolific  source  of  discord, 
confusion,  hatred,  misery;  while  humility  is  of 
heaven,  the  condition  of  normal  healthy  growth  in 
the  powers  and  graces  of  the  heavenly  life  and  the 
promoter  of  order,  mutual  good-will,  harmony,  and 
happiness.  Let  us  be  sure  of  these  holy  truths  and 
learn  to  think,  to  speak,  to  act  —  learn  to  /ive  accord- 
ingly. 

O  Pride,  thou  haughty,  hateful  vice  ! 
Chief  of  an  impious  clan ! 

We  know  from  whence  thou  had'st  thy  rise 
And  how  thy  life  began. 

Crude  knowledge  was  thy  foolish  dame, 

And  selfishness  thy  sire  ; 
From  these  thy  scornful  nature  came, 

And  these  thy  life  inspire. 

Thou  art  a  subtle  demon  lust 

In  every  votary's  breast, 
Assuming,  lordly  and  unjust, 

If  not  firmly  repressed. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  113 

Thou  makest  man  a  rebel  child 

Against  his  Father's  throne  ; 
A  tyrant,  arrogant  and  wild, 

Whose  heart  seems  turned  to  stone. 

Thus  might  usurps  the  place  of  right ; 

The  strong  oppress  the  weak  ; 
And  foul  revenge  and  cruel  spite 

On  suffering  victims  wreak. 

But  now  Humility  we  hail ! 

Of  love  and  wisdom  born, 
The  ills  of  Pride  to  countervail 

And  overcome  its  scorn. 

From  God  she  comes  with  angel  grace 

Displaying  heavenly  charms; 
And  bids  a  haughty,  warring  race 

Lay  down  its  clashing  arms. 

Inspired  by  her,  we  God  revere, 

His  holy  laws  obey  ; 
We  treat  mankind  as  brethren  dear, 

And  for  all  nations  pray. 

And  thus  inspired  we  walk  with  God, 

And  dwell  in  peace  with  men  : 
Nor  shrink  from  truth's  correcting  rod, 

E'en  though  it  gives  us  pain. 

So  may  we  life's  best  lessons  learn, 

Gain  from  its  ills  release; 
And,  as  we  sin  and  folly  spurn, 

Find  everlasting  peace. 


DISCOURSE    IX. 

ON    SELF-DENIAL    AS    A    FUNDAMENTAL     VIBTUE. 

'*  Then  said  Jesus  unto  his  disciples,  If  any  man  will  come 
after  me,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take  up  his  cross  and  fol- 
low me."  —  Matt.  xvi.  24. 

In  my  last  discourse  I  discussed  the  subject  of 
Humility,  which  I  declared  to  be  the  primary  virtue 
of  pure,  primitive  Christian  morality.  In  the  pres- 
ent one  I  will  treat  of  Self-denial  for  righteousness' 
sake,  as  the  next  in  order  according  to  the  classifica- 
tion which  I  make  of  the  general  matter  under  con- 
sideration. This  virtue  is  closely  related  to  humility 
and  like  it  is  equally  a  constituent  element  of  piety, 
as  it  is  of  morality.  But  at  present  we  are  to 
regard  it  only  in  its  relation  to  the  latter. 

What  then  is  Self-denial  for  righteousness'  sake, 
as  I  am  pleased  to  phrase  the  theme  now  claiming 
attention  "^  Let  us  analyze  and  define  it.  What  is 
self,  or  selfhood,  as  commonly  used  and  understood  } 
It  is  one's  own  proper  individual  being,  as  dis- 
tinguishable from  all  other  beings  and  things  ;  each 
one's  own  constitutional,  organic  personality ;  that 
which  he  or  she  means  by  the  terms,  ''I,  me,  or 
myself."  What  is  self-denial  ?  It  is  the  withhold- 
ing from  one's  self  or  refusing  to  share  some  gratifi- 
cation, pleasure,  or  possession,  in  some  respects  very 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY  115 

desirable,  for  the  time  being  or  it  may  be  perma- 
nently. And  what  is  self-denial  for  righteousness' 
sake?  It  is  the  rejection  of  some  such  gratification, 
pleasure,  or  possession,  from  a  conviction  that  it  is 
wrong,  or  not  best,  all  things  considered;  that  it 
is  contrary  to  one's  highest  sense  of  duty  either  to 
God  or  man,  and  hostile  to  the  divine  government  and 
to  the  general  welfare  and  happiness.  It  is  doing 
this  under  the  conviction  named,  however  disagree- 
able, trying,  or  even  painful  such  action  may  be. 
Indeed  the  idea  of  self-denial  usually  implies  some- 
thing disagreeable,  trying,  or  painful ;  and  the  merit 
of  it  is  proportioned  to  the  extent  to  which  these 
elements  enter  into  or  are  consequent  upon  its  exer- 
cise. It  is  therefore  sometimes  expressed  in  the 
phrase  "Taking  up  the  cross,"  as  we  find  the 
thought  repeated  in  our  text. 

What  does  self-denial  for  righteousness'  sake 
imply  ?  It  implies  ( i  )  That  self-gratification  is 
sometimes  wrong,  sinful,  and  evil.  (2)  That  in 
such  a  case,  self-denial  is  an  imperative  duty  —  indis- 
pensable to  true  personal  righteousness.  And  (3) 
That  there  is  in  human  selfhood  a  central  power,  a 
pivotal  faculty,  capable  of  determining  whether  one 
will  gratify  or  deny  self  in  any  supposable  or  actual 
case.  Reject  either  of  these  three  implied  truths  and 
logically  there  could  be  no  such  virtue  as  self-denial 
for  righteousness'  sake.  Assume  that  self-gratifica- 
tion is  always  right,  and  then  there  will  be  no  need  of 
self-denial ;  no  call  to  practice  it,  no  good  to  come 
from  it.  Assume  that  self-denial  is  never  an  impera- 
tive duty,  and  it  must  be  either  contrary  to  duty  or  a 


116  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

matter  of  indifference,  morally  considered. '¥  Assume 
that  man  has  no  power  of  choosing  and  determining 
amid  conflicting  influences  whether  he  will  gratify 
or  deny  himself,  then  he  is  irresponsible  —  no 
moral  agent  and  not  a  subject  of  whom  duty  can  be 
predicated. 

But  I  hold  the  three  implied  truths  I  have  named 
to  be  absolute  truths.  Primitive  Christianity  takes 
them  for  granted,  and  our  best  experience  demon- 
strates their  reality.  We  find  ourselves  constituted 
and  organized  in  such  a  manner  that  though  all  our 
faculties  are  good  in  their  place  and  when  rightly 
exercised,  yet  are  they  all  more  or  less  liable  to  get 
out  of  their  divinely  appointed  order  and  to  be 
wrongfully  exercised.  We  find  that  we  have  animal, 
intellectual,  and  religious  capabilities,  each  of  these 
classes  craving  their  respective  peculiar  satisfactions  ; 
we  have  also  appetites,  propensities,  inclinations, 
tastes,  passions,  of  a  corresponding  animal,  intel- 
lectual, and  religious  character.  We  find,  further- 
more, that  the  different  groups  of  faculties  which  we 
by  birthright  possess,  often  oppose  and  countercheck 
each  other ;  that  the  desires  or  cravings  of  the  lower 
groups  are  sometimes  in  open  conflict  with  the 
impulses  and  demands  of  the  higher,  causing  a 
tumult  of  the  native  forces  within  the  breast  which 
it  is  extremely  difficult  if  not  impossible,  for  the 
time  being,  for  the  central,  determining  power  which 
we  name  the  will  to  control;  that  lust,  sentiment^ 
reason  —  the  conflicting  agencies  —  cannot  be  har- 
monized and  made  to  act  in  unison  for  the  develop- 
ment   and    perfecting    of    character  except    the  will, 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIOXS.  117 

sanctified  by  the  divine  Spirit,  be  able  to  govern 
them  and  hold  them  subservient  to  a  common 
exalted  and  beneficent  purpose  ;  and  that  until  this 
high  and  noble  attainment  be  reached,  or  at  least 
approximated,  man  is  a  discordant,  disorderly,  dis- 
contented being  —  more  or  less  unhappy,  if  not 
lamentably  miserable.  All  this  will  be  readily 
granted  by  people  of  average  intelligence  and 
reflection. 

What  then  is  the  grand  desideratum  ?  the  first 
thing  to  be  sought  after  in  view  of  existing  facts,  as 
we  have  noted  them  ^  What  but  the  harmony  and 
co-operation  of  all  our  constitutional  endowments, 
of  all  our  native  powers  ?  But  this  can  be  accom- 
plished only  by  bringing  them  each  and  all  into 
proper  order  and  exercise  as  respects  one  another 
and  the  aggregate  whole,  so  that  the  animal,  the 
mental,  the  moral,  and  religious  natures  shall  stand 
in  their  designed  relationship  and  gradation,  and 
discharge  their  respective  functions  according  to  the 
supreme  divine  laws  of  their  being.  This  cannot  be 
effected  without  much  persistent  though  temporary 
self-denial  for  righteousness'  sake.  Why  }  Because 
our  selfhood  is  pleased  and  gratified  for  a  time  with 
such  enjoyment  as  comes  through  its  predominant 
and  most  active  faculties,  though  they  be  low  and 
disorderly  ;  and  it  is  these  that  are  generally  and 
naturally  in  the  ascendant  during  the  rudimental 
stages  of  human  life  and  history.  "  First  the  nat- 
ural "  ;  that  is,  the  fleshly,  the  sensuous;  "afterward 
that  which  is  spiritual  "  — the  intellectual,  the  moral, 
the  religious.     Such  is  the  order  of  human  develop- 


118  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

ment  and  progress  as  illustrated  in  individuals  and  in 
the  race.  Hence,  though  the  lower  has  at  present 
an  advantage  over  the  higher  and  holds  supremacy  in 
both  thought  and  conduct,  and  though  the  delights 
of  today  may  involve  miseries  for  tomorrow  and  a 
pound  of  present  pleasure  may  entail  upon  us  a  ton 
of  future  regret  and  pain,  yet  are  we  prone  to  snatch 
with  eagerness  what  now  charms  and  gladdens  us, 
regardless  of  the  inevitable  consequences  of  sorrow 
and  distress  sooner  or  later  to  be  visited  upon  us. 
We  dread  immediate  discomfort  and  privation  —  the 
cross  now  offered  us,  even  though  they  are  indispen- 
sable to  the  attainment  of  incomprehensibly  superior 
good,  far  more  than  we  prize  the  benefits  and  bless- 
ings to  be  gained  thereby  —  the  crown  of  triumph 
and  of  endless  rejoicing.  And  this  will  continue,  as 
most  natural,  so  long  as  the  lower  principles  within 
us  hold  the  mastery  of  us  against  the  higher  and 
yield  their  legitimate  fruits  in  our  experience.  For 
thus  long  we  are  of  the  gross  and  animal  mind,  or, 
as  Paul  terms  it,  ''carnally  minded,"  the  result  of 
which  is  death  —  moral  death — death  to  the  high- 
est and  noblest  capacities  and  possibilities  of  our 
being.  And  death  in  this  sense  is  but  the  precursor 
of  unrest,  discontent,  wretchedness. 

Hence  it  is  that  vast  multitudes  of  our  fellow-men 
are  disappointed  of  their  desired  happiness  and  other 
multitudes  are  sadly  and  hopelessly  miserable.  The 
desire  for  happiness  is  a  native  instinct  of  the  human 
heart  and  all  men  have  that  desire  quickened  within 
them, —  a  burning  thirst  it  is  with  many  people,  but 
they  fail    of    it  by  mistaking  either  its    nature    and 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  119 

character,  or    the    conditions    of    its    attainment,   or 
both.     With  most  persons,  the  gratification    of    the 
sensibilities   and    tastes,  the    pleasure    of    self-indul- 
gence, a  momentary  rapture  or  revelry  of  the  emo- 
tions,   is    happiness.      With    others,     happiness    is 
closely   allied    to    worldly    success,    the    gaining    of 
wealth,   distinction,    honor,    fame,    outward    display, 
more  or  less  refined  luxury,  and  these  are  therefore 
laboriously  struggled   for  as-  essential    to  it,  though 
the  struggle  be  often  in  vain.     Still  others,  higher  in 
the  scale  of  advancement,  seek  it  in  the  pursuit  of 
worldly  wisdom,  in  the  realms  of  science,  philosophy, 
literature,  or  some  other  purely  intellectual  activity 
or  possession.     Indeed  the  roads  to  expected  happi- 
ness and    the  means  of   securing  it  are  indefinitely 
various.     But  if  blindly  or  selfishly  sought,  if  sought 
for  its  own  sake  or  in   neglect  or  defiance  of    moral 
considerations  —  in    contravention     of    the    law    of 
righteousness  or  the  good  of  mankind,  by  whatever 
road  or  means,  the  seeker  fails.     God,   in   the  very 
nature  of   things  and  by  the  laws  of  His  righteous 
government,  has  decreed  His  inevitable  disappoint- 
ment.    And  we  ought  to  rejoice  that  it  is  so  ;    for 
disappointment  in  all  such  cases  is  as  wholesome  to 
him  who  experiences  it  as  it  is  sure.     It  is  salutary 
to  all  concerned,  for  by  it  they  learn  wisdom  and  are 
corrected  of  what  only  does  them  harm. 

Primitive  Christianity  in  its  purity  proclaims  the 
Fatherhood  of  God,  the  brotherhood  of  man,  the 
unity  of  all  real  human  interests,  the  transcendent 
reality  of  immortal  existence,  and  the  necessity  of 
bringing  into  true  orderly  exercise  all  our  constitu- 


120  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

tional  faculties  as  the  condition  of  pure  and  lasting 
happiness.  This  result  can  be  wrought  out  only  by 
more  or  less  of  self-denial.  Yet  self-denial  is  never 
required  of  us  for  its  own  sake  but  only  for  right- 
eousness' sake  ;  and  for  that  in  those  cases  alone  in 
which  self-indulgence  is  really  sinful  or  contrary  to 
the  divine  order  ;  nor  even  then  against  the  absolute 
good  of  the  individual  concerned  but  for  his  highest 
good,  as  consistent  with  the  highest  universal  good. 
Thus  we  are  brought  to  the  precise  point  now  under 
consideration,  to  wit:  —  The  importance  of  self- 
denial  for  righteousness'  sake,  as  one  of  the  funda- 
mental virtues  or  essential  elements  of  pure  Christian 
morality. 

This  morality,  as  already  defined,  includes  the 
duties  more  especially  which  man  owes  to  himself 
and  to  his  fellow-creatures.  Man  owes  to  himself 
those  duties  which  are  needful  to  promote  health, 
development,  and  general  well-being,  physically, 
intellectually,  morally,  and  spiritually.  Every  viola- 
tion of  those  duties  is  harmful  and  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  suicidal.  Man  owes  to  his  fellow-beings 
the  duties  implied  in  the  second  great  commandment, 
in  the  golden  rule,  in  the  injunction  ;  —  **  Love  your 
enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them 
that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use 
you  and  persecute  you."  Every  violation  of  these 
duties  is  harmful  to  the  neighbor  and  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  fratricidal.  Man  owes  to  those  orders  of 
being  above  and  below  himself,  those  duties  which 
their  natures  and  the  eternal  fitness  of  things  render 
just,  reasonable,  and  beneficent  ;  from  the  archangel 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  121 

in  heaven  on  the  one  hand  to  the  worm  of  the  dust 
on  the  other.  To  violate  these  duties  is  to  war 
against  the  general  laws  of  order  and  the  universal 
good.  And  all  violations  of  these  several  classes  of 
duties  are  offences  more  or  less  flagrant  and  criminal 
against  the  primitive  morality  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ. 

But  these  several  classes  of  duties  cannot  be  dis- 
charged to  the  fullest  extent  of  human  responsibility 
without  the  exercise  of  more  or  less  self-denial  — 
without  often  taking  up  the  cross.  Do  we  not 
clearly  see  that  multitudes  of  people  are  enfeebled, 
diseased,  incapacitated  for  useful  service,  and  even 
killed,  by  intemperance,  by  the  disorderly  indulgence 
of  their  appetites  and  carnal  lusts,  by  various  kinds 
of  self-abuse  ?  Why  ?  Simply  and  solely  because 
they  will  not  deny  themselves  wrong  and  harmful 
gratifications.  Do  we  not  see  that  many  remain 
ignorant,  foolish,  undeveloped  in  mind,  either  because 
they  will  not  be  at  the  necessary  pains  to  learn,  or 
because  the  more  favored  in  the  same  regard  will 
■not  bear  the  cross  of  teaching  them  without  immedi- 
ate reward  ?  Is  it  not  obvious  that  hosts  of  our  race 
are  vicious  and  criminally  sinful  for  the  same  essen- 
tial reason  ;  because  they  will  not  deny  themselves 
the  indulgence  of  some  inordinate  appetite,  base 
passion,  or  unhallowed  desire,  or  because  those  who 
might  instruct  them  in  the  principles  of  virtue  and 
lead  them  in  the  way  of  a  better  life  will  not  be  at 
the  trouble  of  doing  so?  And  there  is  no  help  for 
those  who  are  in  such  a  case  without  self-denial 
for  ri":hteousness'  sake.      Christ  himself  cannot  save 


122  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIAJflTY 

them  otherwise  than  by  inducing  them  to  take  up 
the  cross  and  follow  him.  He  bore  his  own  cross 
and  was  made  perfect  through  suffering.  So  must  it 
be  with  us  in  the  respects  now  under  consideration, 
or  we  become  guilty  of  immoralities  more  or  less 
injurious  to  ourselves  and  therefore  proportionally 
worthy  of  reprobation. 

If  we  turn  now  to  that  kind  of  gratification  which 
works  mischief  and  injury  to  our  brethren,  it  is  even 
more  wicked  and  blameworthy.  It  is  surely  bad 
enough  to  abuse,  injure,  and  despoil  one's  self;  how 
much  more  to  abuse,  injure,  and  despoil  one's  brother 
or  sister  of  the  family  of  God  .'*  Yet  who  ever 
neglected  or  wronged  a  fellow  human  being  but  to 
gratify  some  selfish  propensity,  impulse,  passion,  or 
lust  ?  For  what  does  any  one  defraud,  slander, 
oppress,  corrupt,  rob,  wound,  kill  another,  or  injure 
him  in  any  way  as  to  person,  property,  reputation,  or 
character  ?  Seldom,  if  ever  without  some  expecta- 
tion or  motive  centering  in  self ;  some  purpose  of 
self-gratification.  It  may  be  refined  or  gross  and 
sensual ;  substantial  or  fanciful  ;  cold  and  calculating: 
or  impulsive  and  passional  ;  the  morale  of  the  act  is 
the  same.  The  principle  involved  is  the  same 
whether  the  object  sought  be  to  mount  a  throne  or 
secure  an  office,  to  gain  a  fortune  or  procure  means 
to  buy  an  intoxicating  draught,  to  win  military  glory 
or  pugilistic  fame,  to  satisfy  an  aesthetic  taste  or  a 
perverse  lust,  to  gratify  a  mere  prejudice  or  whim 
or  indulge  the  spirit  of  revenge,  jealousy,  and  malig- 
nant hate.  No  matter  what,  the  controlling  motive 
or  purpose  is  the  same,  and  self-denial   is  the  effect- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  123 

ual  preventive  of  all  such  forms  of  iniquity.  Primi- 
tive Christianity  therefore  enjoins  upon  us  this  virtue 
of  self-denial  in  regard  to  anything  and  everything, 
however  pleasurable  or  satisfying  to  ourselves,  which 
we  cannot  have  or  do  without  disobeying  the  same 
great  command  in  its  widest  application  ;  —  **  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  Under  that 
command  as  under  the  golden  rule  and  the  injunction 
quoted,  "Love  your  enemies,"  etc.,  we  find  in  abun- 
dance denials  of  self  to  practice  and  crosses  in  imita- 
tion of  Christ  to  take  up.  They  are  all  of  the  same 
wholesome  nature  and  he  who  in  good  conscience 
can  be  faithful  in  any  one  of  the  duties  involved  and 
required  of  him  can  if  he  will  be  faithful  in  all. 

Nor  must  we  forget  another  class  of  self-denials  to 
be  regarded  for  righteousness'  sake.  I  refer  to  the 
many  omissions  and  neglects  by  which  we  often 
wrong  ourselves  and  our  suffering  brethren.  They 
usually  come  through  sheer  thoughtlessness,  indo- 
lence, love  of  ease,  and  want  of  kindly  consideration. 
There  is  really  as  sinful  self-gratification  in  these  as 
in  other  cases.  Some  people  are  so  indifferent  to 
others'  condition,  so  fond  of  their  own  comfort,  that 
it  is  a  burden  to  rouse  themselves  from  their  lethar- 
gic state  and  engage  in  any  useful  calling,  —  a  trial 
to  be  interested  in  the  well-being  of  those  about 
them  or  to  extend  to  them  sympathy  and  help  in 
time  of  need.  But  Primitive  Christianity  prompts- 
to  a  tender  regard  for  others  and  enjoins  activity  in 
aiding  them  and  diligence  in  every  good  work.  And 
this  to  avoid  being  a  burden  to  fellow-men  and  at 
the  same  time  to  have  the  means  of  aidinfr  the  less 


124  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

fortunate  and  destitute  in  society  at  large.  It  has 
a  cross  for  the  listless,  the  indifferent,  the  uncon- 
cerned, and  the  lazy,  as  well  as  for  other  self-seeking 
offenders  against  their  own  and  others  good. 

And  if  we  apply  the  same  principles  to  our  treat- 
ment of  the  lower  orders  of  creation,  we  shall  find 
that  while  we  are  allowed  to  use  them  in  such  ways 
as  shall  conduce  to  our  own  and  our  neighbors'  sus- 
tenance, safety,  comfort,  and  happiness,  we  are  for- 
bidden to  abuse  or  torture- them,  or  to  inflict  upon 
them  needless  pain,  even  in  taking  their  lives,  as  we 
are  privileged  to  do  in  the  case  of  beasts  of  prey  in 
order  to  preserve  ourselves  and  others  from  harm  by 
them,  or  in  other  cases  for  the  purpose  of  using  their 
flesh  for  food.  To  overwork  or  underfeed,  to  neglect 
or  mercilessly  beat,  those  domestic  animals  to  which 
we  owe  so  much  for  the  varied  service  they  render 
us,  is  an  injustice  of  which  we  should  never  be 
guilty  ;  a  sin  to  be  repented  of  as  soon  as  possible 
and  put  forever  away.  To  set  ferocious  and  quarrel- 
some brutes  in  hostile  array  with  each  other,  as  in 
some  of  the  bloody  sports  of  the  ancient  Roman 
arena  or  the  modern  bull-fights  of  Spain,  bespeaks  a 
savage  nature  —  a  nature  as  yet  unblessed  by  the 
spirit  of  Christ  and  untrained  in  the  love  of  his 
Gospel.  Even  the  most  vicious  and  dangerous  of 
animals,  like  the  tiger  or  hyena,  and  the  most 
venomous  of  serpents  are  to  be  spared  all  needless 
cruelty  and  suffering  at  the  hands  of  man  in  his 
endeavors  to  save  himself  and  others  from  their 
ravages  or  to  exterminate  them  altogether. 

But  some  may  say  that   I  am  carrying  the  princi- 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS. 


125 


pies  of  Christian  morality  to  a  very  great  extreme 
and  spinning  my  theories  exceedingly  fine.  No 
more  so  than  the  spirit  of  Primitive  Christianity 
requires.  No  more  so  than  is  reasonable  and  just. 
No  more  so  than  is  requisite  to  the  highest  type  of 
character  or  to  the  designed  well-being  and  happi- 
ness of  the  whole  creation  of  God.  What  do  we 
want  of  a  professed  Christian  morality  that  is  bar- 
barous, semi-barbarous,  or  merely  civilized  according 
to  the  crude  standard  of  the  world  as  it  now  is  I 
Such  a  morality  would  be  hardly  worth  having,  much 
less  devotedly  loving,  living  for,  and  unreservedly 
promoting.  For  it  would  do  little  in  the  way  of  lifting 
the  soul  out  of  its  selfishness  and  sin,  or  the  world 
to  a  higher  level  of  righteousness,  brotherhood,  and 
blessedness  than  that  which  it  now  occupies,  and 
which  is  characterized  by  innumerable  evils  and  mis- 
eries. We  want  a  morality  that  is  complete  and  per- 
fect in  itself,  that  cannot  be  transcended,  the  fruits 
whereof  are  holiness  and  happiness,  quietness  and 
assurance  forever.  And  such  a  one  we  have  in 
Primitive  Christianity  ;  and  it  becomes  us  to  hear, 
reverence,  and  obey  its  requirements  touching  this 
cardinal  virtue  of  self-denial  for  righteousness'  sake, 
as  communicated  to  us  in  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures,  the  testimony  of  which  can  be  appre- 
hended by  a  few  sample  passages. 

The  first  that  I  quote  is  Luke's  version  of  the 
text:  "If  any  man  will  come  after  me  let  him  deny 
himself  and  take  up  his  cross  daily  and  follow  me. 
For  whosoever  will  save  his  life  shall  lose  it  ;  but 
whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for  my  sake,  the   same 


126  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

shall  find  it.  For  what  is  a  man  advantaged  if  he 
gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  himself  or  be  a  cast-a- 
way?"—  Ljike  \x.  23-25.  Of  a  similar  purport  are 
the  following:  ''Whosoever  doth  not  bear  his  cross 
and  come  after  me  cannot  be  ray  disciple."  —  Luke  xiv. 
27.  "If  thy  right  eye  cause  thee  to  offend,  pluck  it 
out  and  cast  it  from  thee  ;  for  it  is  better  that  one  of 
thy  members  should  perish  than  that  thy  whole  body 
should  be  cast  into  hell."  —  Matt.  v.  29.  '*  If  ye  live 
after  the  flesh  ye  shall  die  ;  but  if  ye  through  the 
Spirit  do  mortifiy  the  deeds  of  the  body  ye  shall 
live." — Rom.  viii.  13.  "Mortify  therefore  your 
members  which  are  upon  the  earth  ;  fornication, 
uncleanliness,  inordinate  affection,  evil  concupis- 
cence, and  covetousness  which  is  idolatry."  —  Col- 
iii.  5.  "  For  the  grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salva- 
tion to  all  men  hath  appeared,  teaching  us  that 
•denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we  should 
live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  this  present 
world." — Titus  ii.  11,  12.  "We  then  that  are 
strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak, 
and  not  to  please  ourselves.  Let  every  one  of  us 
please  his  neighbor  for  his  good  to  edification."  — 
Rom.  XV.  I,  2.  "Present  your  bodies  a  living  sacri- 
fice, holy,  acceptable  unto  God,  which  is  your  reason- 
able service."  — Rom.  xii.    i. 

Such  is  the  primitive  Christian  doctrine  of  self- 
denial  for  righteousness'  sake.  Do  we  reject  it }  If 
so,  we  so  far  reject  Christ  and  will  not  be  his  disci- 
ples. Turning  away  from  his  standard  of  morality, 
we  shall  set  up  one  of  our  own,  and  in  the  order  of 
nature  and  providence  must  take  the  consequences 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  127 

of  such  action.  What  will  they  be  ?  (  i.)  We  shall 
have  a  low,  selfish,  linsey-woolsey,  fluctuating  moral 
ideal,  modeled  after  the  customs  and  fashions  of  the 
age,  which  will  produce  in  us  a  cheap,  common-place 
type  of  character  —  not  one  of  superior  excellence, 
of  solid  strength,  and  of  commanding  influence  and 
power  for  good  in  the  world.  (2.)  We  shall  be  in 
great  danger  of  transposing  pleasure  and  pain,  of 
making  a  little  present  enjoyment  cheat  us  out  of 
untold  future  satisfaction  and  delight,  of  bartering  a 
small  momentary  cross  for  one  much  more  burden- 
some and  painful  in  the  end.  (3.)  We  shall  sow  in 
our  own  natures  the  seed-grain  of  selfish  gratification 
and  carnal  pleasure  after  the  manner  of  this  world, 
the  harvest  whereof,  to  be  sooner  or  later  reaped,  is 
disappointment,  unrest,  self-reproach,  and  misery. 
(4.)  We  shall  be  found  fighting  against  the  truth, 
against  the  progress  of  mankind,  against  our  own 
and  others  highest  good  and  happiness.  (5.)  We 
shall  in  the  end  utterly  fail  in  our  plans  and  expecta- 
tions, lose  a  thousand  opportunities  of  rising  in  the 
scale  of  being  and  of  blessing  the  world,  suffer  inglo- 
rious defeat.  For  Primitive  Christianity  against 
which  we  rebel,  based  as  it  is  upon  the  eternal 
verities  and  bulwarked  by  the  strength  of  the  omni- 
potent God,  will  in  due  time  triumph  over  all  its  foes 
and  reign  victorious  throughout  the  earth.  The 
kingdom  of  God,  for  which  it  stands  and  whose  vice- 
regent  it  is  among  men,  will  surely  some  day  come, 
and  the  divine  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven. 


128  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

Let  us  then  be  wise.  Let  us  choose  that  cross  of 
Christian  Self-denial  which  insures  for  those  who 
bear  it  a  crown  of  life.  Let  us  remember  that  there 
was  never  a  truly  great  and  noble  personage,  a  real 
saint,  a  moral  hero,  a  benefactor  of  his  kind,  an  ideal 
character,  who  did  not  personify  and  illustrate  in 
large  measure  this  essential  virtue  of  self-denial  — 
never,  indeed,  an  exemplary  and  praiseworthy  father, 
mother,  husband,  wife,  son,  daughter,  brother,  or 
sister ;  never  a  really  congenial  and  lovable  associ- 
ate or  friend.  It  is  a  vital  element  of  character  — 
a  constituent  of  the  loftiest  type  of  manhood  and 
womanhood.  Blessed  are  they  who  deny  themselves 
for  righteousness'  sake,  who  are  as  regardful  of 
others'  welfare  as  of  their  own,  who  are  willing  to 
serve  rather  than  to  be  served,  who  forego  personal 
ease,  pleasure,  comfort,  advantage,  that  they  may 
with  each  passing  year  increase  the  aggregate  of 
human  joy,  and  "make  the  sum  of  human  sorrows 
less";  who  suffer  injuries  rather  than  inflict  them, 
and  who,  like  the  great  E.xemplar,  forget  the  wrong 
committed  against  them  in  their  self-denying  com- 
passion for  those  guilty  of  such  wrong.  For  truly  it 
may  be  said,  **  Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
And  if  I  cannot  make  my  final  home  with  the  like  of 
these,  let  me  sleep  the  dreamless  sleep  that  knows 
no  waking  forevermore.  And  if  I  long  for  a  heaven 
peopled  after  such  a  fashion,  may  I  deny  myself 
whatever  would  tend  to  make  it  a  hell. 


DISCOURSE    X. 

ON    THE    PBIMITIVE    CHRISTIAN    VIRTUE    OF 
JUSTICE. 

"The  Lord  *  *  blesseth  the  habitation  of  the  ]\\s\.:'  —  P rov . 

iii-  33- 

"  Judge  not  according  to  the  appearance,  but  judge  righteous 
judgment."  — John  vii.  24. 

The  recognition  of  Justice  as  a  fundamental  virtue 
and  element  of  character  is  not  a  distinguishing 
peculiarity  of  the  religion  of  Christ,  as  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  I  introduce  my  present  discourse 
upon  that  subject  with  texts  from  both  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  Nor  is  it  limited  to 
those  two  great  forms  or  systems  of  faith.  All  reli- 
gious and  moral  philosophers  acknowledge  its  reality 
and  its  claims  and  enjoin  the  practice  of  it  upon 
their  devotees.  So  in  a  certain  sense  do  those  who 
are  called  Atheists,  Pantheists,  and  Skeptics.  The 
sense  of  justice  seems  to  have  been  deeply  implanted 
in  the  nature  of  man  and  manifests  itself  instinct- 
ively with  the  first  movements  of  the  moral  depart- 
ment of  his  being,  rendering  it  the  most  common 
and  universal  of  all  the  ethical  ideas  or  principles 
known  to  the  world.  In  the  abstract  none  deny  its 
validity  or  the  obligations  it  imposes  upon  men,  but 
all,  as  they  understand  and   apply  it,   regard  it  and 


130  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

its  requirements  sacred.  It  is  variously  interpreted 
and  employed  according  to  the  mental  and  moral 
status  of  any  given  individual  or  people,  the  age  in 
which  they  live,  and  the  prevailing  public  opinion 
and  condition  of  society  about  them.  Hence  we 
have  had  in  the  history  of  mankind,  and  do  have  in 
a  measure  today,  all  possible  notions  or  phases  of 
justice  from  the  most  crude,  brutish,  and  barbarous 
to  the  most  humane,  refined,  and  spiritualized.  Still, 
in  all  cases  and  under  all  forms  of  administration  the 
fundamental  principle  involved  is  the  same,  viz. :  the 
obligation  to  respect  the  rights  of  all  beings,  render 
them  what  is  their  due,  hold  them  to  their  proper 
responsibility,  and  treat  them  according  to  their 
deserts.  Now  Primitive  Christianity  does  not  deny 
or  ignore  the  existence  of  this  principle  or  idea  of 
justice  under  other  names  than  its  own,  or  the  whole- 
some ends  to  which  it  may  be  there  directed  and 
which  it  sometimes  subserves,  but  it  regards  it  and 
commands  the  practice  of  it  on  its  highest  plane  of 
activity  and  in  its  most  spiritual  phases.  But  it  does 
not  expatiate  upon  it,  magnify  it,  give  it  the  promi- 
nence and  the  laudation  which  it  is  accustomed  to 
receive  under  those  other  auspices  to  which  refer- 
ence is  made,  and  for  the  reason  that  they  usually 
make  justice  the  summiim  boiiiifn  of  all  virtues  — 
the  apex  of  their  ethical  systems  ;  the  most  central 
element  of  character  and  of  righteousness.  While 
Christianity,  although  holding  justice  to  be  one  of 
the  fundamental  virtues  and  an  indispensable  one, 
makes  it  subordinate  to  a  higher  diviner  virtue  — 
surmounts  it,  crowns  it,  swallows  it  up  with   perfect 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  131 

love.  "  The  end  of  the  commandment,"  says  Paul 
"is  charity,"  that  is,  love.  And  again,  **  Now, 
abideth  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  but  the  greatest  of 
these  is  charity,"  love.  The  teachings  of  Christ  are 
to  the  same  effect.  He  concentrates  the  whole  law 
of  God,  the  whole  duty  of  man,  in  one  word,  love. 
In  other  words  Christianity  makes  charity  in  its 
largest  sense,  perfect  love,  its  moral  apex  —  the 
grand,  cardinal,  coronal  principle  of  virtue.  While 
it  imperatively  requires  us  to  do  to  others  all  that 
justice  dictates,  in  deed,  in  word,  in  thought,  to  deal 
fairly  and  equitably  with  all  other  beings  in  even 
measure  and  exact  returns,  it  requires  a  vast  deal 
more ;  love  to  enemies,  blessings  for  those  that  curse 
us,  kindness  to  those  that  hate  us,  prayers  for  those 
that  despitefully  use  us  and  persecute  us.  Yea,  it 
demands  that  we  forgive  those  who  offend  against 
us,  have  compassion  for  the  wicked  and  undeserving, 
resist  not  evil  with  evil  but  overcome  evil  with  good. 
This  is  in  no  sense  relaxing  the  claims  of  justice  or 
depreciating  its  awards  ;  but  rather  fulfilling  it  and 
transcending  its  most  beneficent  characteristics.  It 
is  not  tolerating  or  authorizing  injustice  in  the 
slightest  degree  but  obliging  us  to  be  incomparably 
more  considerate,  kind,  forbearing,  merciful,  gracious, 
forgiving,  than  justice  in  its  ordinary  significance  and 
use  implies  or  demands.  Not  that  justice  is  natu- 
rally and  necessarily  cold,  unfeeling,  heartless.  In 
its  most  exalted  and  spiritualized  phase,  it  allows  and 
warrants  a  limited  amount  of  kindness,  clemency, 
mercy,  and  renders  its  awards  accordingly.  But 
there  are  boundaries  and  landmarks  in  this  direction 


132  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

which  it  must  not  pass.  As  the  popular  maxim  has 
it,  "There  is  a  point  beyond  which  forbearance 
ceases  to  be  a  virture."  Not  so  Primitive  Chris- 
tianity. 

But  some  one  may  ask,  does  not  justice  compre- 
hend the  highest  goodness  }  Why  make  it  a  lower 
virtue  than  perfect  love  ?  Because  I  so  understand 
the  truth.  Why  distinguish  the  different  virtues, 
humility,  self-denial,  truthfulness,  etc.,  from  each 
other  at  all  ?  Because  there  is  a  natural  difference 
between  them  which  should  be  recognized  and  fully 
comprehended  in  the  interest  of  intelligent  thought. 
All  moral  excellences  are  included  in  the  general 
term  goodness  or  righteousness,  just  as  all  the  mem- 
bers and  faculities  of  a  man's  physical  system  are 
included  in  what  is  ordinarily  called  his  body.  And 
the  component  and  separate  parts  of  the  entire  body 
should  be  tabulated  and  clearly  understood,  each  by 
itself,  in  order  to  a  clear  and  complete  understand 
ing  of  the  integral  though  complex  whole.  We 
must  analyze  and  study  the  component  parts  of  any 
subject  in  order  to  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  it- 
The  effect  of  lumping,  mixing  up,  shuffling  together, 
and  confounding  natural  distinctions,  one  elementary 
part  of  anything  with  another,  or  any  one  part  with 
the  entire  whole,  is  misapprehension,  indefiniteness, 
and  manifold  error.  I  belong  to  no  such  school  of 
thinkers  and  reasoners.  I  can  appreciate,  admire, 
and  enjoy  the  beauty  of  the  rainbow  as  a  whole,  but 
I  want  to  take  cognizance  of  and  comprehend,  as  far 
as  possible,  the  seven  prismatic  colors  that  compose 
it,  just  as  nature  has  produced,  arranged,  and  placed 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  133 

them,  and  blended  them  together.  So  when  a  per- 
son tells  me  that  justice  is  goodness,  that  goodness 
is  the  perfection  of  moral  excellence,  and  that  there 
can  be  nothing  better  than  that,  he  puts  a  part  for 
the  whole  and  confuses  and  obscures  the  entire 
realm  of  ethical  thought  and  practice.  As  for  me,  I 
desire  to  be  able  to  apprehend  and  duly  estimate 
that  complete  and  symmetrical  union  of  virtues 
which  go  to  make  up  what  may  be  called  a  system 
of  moral  philosophy  and  which  enter  into  and  fill 
out  a  well-developed,  all-sided,  perfect  manhood  or 
womanhood  ''according  to  the  measure  of  the  stat- 
ure of  the  fullness  of  Christ  " ;  but  I  desire  also  to 
see  and  understand  distinctly  and  precisely  each 
particular  virtue  represented  therein,  to  comprehend 
its  peculiar  nature,  its  distinctive  office,  its  own 
underived  and  absolute  worth,  and  its  relation  to  all 
the  other  virtues  and  to  the  entire  whole.  And  this 
is  why  I  make  the  classification  and  specialization 
which  characterize  the  present  discussion. 

I  now  return  to  the  more  direct  consideration  of 
the  subject  which  this  discourse  is  desired  to  expound 
and  elucidate,  the  principle  of  justice  as  an  essential 
constituent  of  the  divine  moral  law,  and  its  practice 
as  a  fundamental  virtue,  according  to  the  teachings 
and  requirements  of  pure  Christianity.  Justice  in 
the  Christian  conception  of  it  is  to  be  regarded  not 
in  that  cold,  calculating,  pitiless,  inexorable  sense 
which  usually  characterizes  it  in  pagan  philosophies, 
or  even  under  Jewish  forms  of  administration, 
demanding  "eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth,  hand  for 
hand,  foot  for  foot,  burning  for  burning,  wound  for 


184  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

wound,  stripe  for  stripe,"  but  in  its  most  refined, 
sympathetic,  spiritualized  sense  —  in  that  manifesta- 
tion and  phase  of  it  represented  by  the  gentle  Portia 
in  the  Shaksperian  drama  where  she  inveighs  against 
the  cruel  demands  of  Shylock,  saying  that  ''earthly 
power  doth  then  show  likest  God's  when  mercy  sea- 
sons j-ustice."  Another  form  of  this  higher  phase  or 
manifestation  of  justice  is  clearly  indicated  in  a  pas- 
sage of  the  Serjnon  on  the  Mount  wherein  Jesus  says, 
''It  was  said  by  them  of  olden  time  'Thou  shalt  not 
kill,  and  whosoever  shall  kill  shall  be  in  danger  of 
the  judgment.'  But  I  say  unto  you  that  whosoever 
is  angry  with  his  brother  without  cause  shall  be  in 
danger  of  the  judgment."  —  Matt.  v.  21,  22.  In 
other  words  the  Master  of  our  Christian  Israe^ 
applies  the  principle  of  justice  not  alone  to  external 
acts  which  work  injury  to  the  physical  frames  of 
men,  as  was  the  case  in  Jewish  jurisprudence,  but  to 
the  feelings  and  passions  of  the  heart,  and,  by  reason- 
able implication,  to  the  most  secret  and  intangible 
emotions,  affections,  desires,  and  purposes  of  which 
human  nature  is  capable.  Even  in  these  respects 
affecting  more  or  less  our  relations  to  our  fellow-men 
we  must  be  just,  impartial,  and  honorable,  above 
deceit  and  guile. 

We  thus  perceive  that  however  far  justice  may  in 
any  particular  fall  below  perfect  love  or  any  other 
moral  quality  of  the  soul,  it  is  high  above  and  utterly 
averse  to  all  forms  of  inequality  and  cruelty  —  oppres- 
sion, persecution,  defamation,  calumny,  slander,  evil 
speaking;  even  of  envy,  jealousy,  suspicion,  and  ill- 
will.     High  above  also  and  utterly  averse  to  much  of 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTION!?. 


135 


what  passes  for  fair  and  honorable  dealing — at  least 
for  common  decency  and  allowable  conduct  in  com- 
mercial life,  in  politics,  in  legislation,  in  jurispru- 
dence, and  in  the  everyday  intercourse  of  social  life. 
The  number  of  persons  who  have  been  pre-eminently 
just  in  deed,  in  word,  in  spirit,  has  been  compara- 
tively small  in  the  history  of  our  race,  and,  alas  !  is 
so  still.  No  doubt  there  are  and  have  been  many 
reputably  just,  passably  just,  tolerably  just,  according 
to  the  standard  of  their  times,  and  have  been  trusted 
and  honored  accordingly.  But  the  vast  majority  of 
mankind  have  been  unjust,  tyrannical,  oppressive,  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  ready  to  take  advantage  of 
their  weaker,  more  unfortunate,  or  more  foolish  fellow- 
men,  anxious  to  profit  by  the  disappointments,  mis- 
fortunes, and  failures  of  others.  It  is  largely  due  to 
the  fact  that  there  has  been  so  much  injustice 
wrought  in  the  world,  privately  and  publicly,  by 
individuals,  associated  interests,  social  systems, 
states  and  nations  that  there  has  been  and  still  is 
such  a  demand  for  benevolent  action,  for  what  is 
termed  charity,  for  the  help  of  suffering  and  wretched 
humanity.  How  have  the  strong  domineered  over 
the  weak,  the  rich  made  vassals  of  the  poor,  the 
wise  outwitted  the  ignorant,  the  more  fortunate 
despised  and  frowned  upon  those  less  so,  in  neigh- 
borhoods and  general  society !  How  have  nations 
and  states  enacted  injustice  into  law,  maintained 
oppressive  customs  and  institutions,  engaged  in  fool- 
ish and  costly  undertakings,  fomented  and  waged 
expensive  wars,  thereby  imposing  upon  the  people 
at    large,    among    them    multitudes    unable    to    bear 


136  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

them,  heavy  burdens  of  taxation  to  weigh  them 
down  and  multiply  their  distresses  year  after  year, 
generation  after  generation,  and  age  after  age.  Nor 
has  Christendom  itself  been  exempt  from  blame  and 
condemnation  in  this  regard;  much  less  has  it  risen 
to  the  high  level  of  that  divine  justice  which  dispen- 
ses equity  and  righteous  awards,  without  bias  or 
favoritism,  without  partiality  or  hypocrisy,  to  all 
classes  and  conditions  of  beings  and  things  alike  ; 
which  is  the  imperative  duty  of  all  men  and  the  only 
sure  standing  policy  of  nations,  and  which  is  com- 
mended to  us  in  the  teaching  and  example  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Even  our  own  favored  country,  claiming  to 
be  the  bright  consummate  flower  of  the  world's  civili- 
zation and  the  vanguard  of  human  progress  adown  the 
ages  was  but  yesterday  the  home  and  defence  of 
chattel  slavery,  one  of  the  grossest  forms  of  injustice 
that  ever  outraged  reason  and  the  uncorrupt  moral 
sense  of  highminded  men,  crushed  humanity  to  the 
dust,  made  countless  millions  mourn,  and  called 
down  upon  its  guilty  populations  the  retributive, 
desolating  judgments  of  Almighty  God.  Who  can 
forget  that  for  many  memorable  years  it  despised  the 
few  faithful  men  and  women,  who,  loving  justice  and 
the  right,  demanded  freedom  for  the  oppressed 
and  the  breaking  of  fetters  from  the  limbs  of  those 
in  bondage  held,  and  persecuted  unto  shameful 
extremes  those  prophets  of  the  truth  who  testified 
against  the  monstrous  iniquity  and  called  the  guilty 
in  church  and  state  to  repentance  and  their  duty  to 
both  God  and  man.  Nor  did  it  heed  the  counsels 
and  warnings  of  such  till   the  avenging  fury  came  in 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  137 

the  form  of  civil  war  and  at  immense  cost  of  treas- 
ure and  of  life,  and,  amid  the  tears  of  millions  of  its 
inhabitants,  swept  the  giant  curse  away.  But  to 
this  day  no  appreciable  or  equitable  reparation  has 
been  made  to  the  emancipated  for  the  spoliations 
practiced  upon  them  through  many  generations. 
Even  yet  do  they  suffer  for  the  wrongs  to  which 
they  were  subjected  by  a  professedly  democratic  and 
Christian  people,  as  they  must  and  will  do  for  years 
and  years  ahead.  So  called  Christian  civilization  in 
its  most  advanced  and  boastful  forms  has  a  long 
march  of  moral  progress  to  make  before  it  reaches 
the  summit  of  simple  justice  to  all  beings  and  things, 
and  then  it  will  behold  the  loftier  heights  of  perfect 
love  as  Christ  taught  and  exemplified  it  shining  with 
heavenly  radiance  far  above  them  and  wooing  them, 
with  tender,  imploring  solicitude,  thitherwards. 

But  what  are  the  plain  dictates  of  justice  as  seen 
in  the  spiritual  light  of  Primitive  Christianity.  I 
reply : 

I.  Justice  dictates  that  we  render  to  God  our 
heavenly  Father  all  that  He  has  a  natural  right  to 
demand  of  us,  to  wit:  reverence,  obedience,  confi- 
dence, gratitude,  filial  love.  To  withhold  these  is  to 
rob  Him  of  His  rightful  due  and  hence  is  more  or 
less  sinful.  This  application  of  the  principle  of 
justice  to  human  thought  and  conduct  constitutes  a 
necessary  part  of  true  piety.  And  so,  subordinately, 
Christ,  the  angels  in  heaven,  prophets,  apostles,  and 
all  the  great  teachers,  reformers,  and  benefactors  of 
the  human  race  have  important  claims  upon  us  for 
appreciative   and    grateful    recognition,  and    for    the 


138  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

preservation  of  their  names,  services,  memories,  and 
salutary  influence  in  our  day  and  generation  for  our 
own  benefit  and  the  benefit  of  the  world,  and  for  the 
perpetuation  of  the  same  to  the  same  beneficent  end 
unto  days  and  generations  yet  to  come.  These  we 
cannot  ignore  or  contemn  or  neglect  without  incur- 
ring guilt  and  wronging  ourselves  and  humanity  at 
large. 

2.  Justice  dictates  that  we  respect  the  claims  of 
our  own  natures  and  of  our  proper  individual  being. 
It  requires  us  to  maintain  our  own  distinctive  per- 
sonality and  not  suffer  it  to  be  swallowed  up  and  lost 
in  any  associated  body  or  in  the  general  mass  of  our 
fellow-men  ;  that  we  hold  sacred  our  reason  and  con- 
science against  all  opposition  and  usurpation,  how- 
ever much  we  may  suffer  thereby  for  principle's 
sake;  that  we  subordinate  the  lower  propensities, 
passions,  and  tempers  of  our  natures  to  our  rational, 
moral,  and  religious  powers  ;  that  we  bring  all  our 
faculties  and  endowments  into  subjection  to  the  laws 
of  divine  order  pertaining  to  their  several  depart- 
ments, not  perverting  or  abusing  any  of  them  but  so 
using  them  that  we  may  become  the  truest,  the 
noblest,  the  best,  in  the  totality  of  our  characters, 
of  which  we  are  capable.  All  this  is  required  in 
justice  to  our  own  constitutional,  God-ordained 
individuality. 

3.  Justice  dictates  that  we  hold  inviolate  all  the 
rights  and  prerogatives  of  our  fellow  human  beings, 
without  respect  to  persons,  parties,  or  offices.  Every 
human  being  has  certain  natural  rights  and  preroga- 
tives, and    certain    other    conventional    ones,  which, 


AND   ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  139 

unless  forfeited  by  crime  or  gross  abuse,  are  to  be 
regarded  by  his  fellows  as  sacred,  and  as  such  to  be 
treated  with  due  respect.  Among  these  are  'Mife, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness";  also  oppor- 
tunities for  education,  development,  progress,  owner- 
ship of  property,  domestic  and  social  privileges, 
reputation,  and  numerous  means  of  usefulness  and 
enjoyment.  To  deprive  one  of  any  of  these  or 
impair  any  of  them  by  violence,  oppression,  fraud,, 
calumny,  or  any  other  means,  is  manifestly  unjust, 
the  turpitude  of  the  offence  being  proportioned  to 
the  superiority  in  any  respect  of  the  offender.  The 
doctrine  that  *'  Might  makes  right  "  in  any  case  is  an 
outrage  upon  the  principle  of  justice  and  never  to  be 
tolerated.  That  I  am  stronger,  wiser,  better  than 
another  —  have  an  advantage  over  him  in  the  matter 
of  wealth,  position,  social  prestige,  or  influence,  ren- 
ders any  injustice  I  may  practice  towards  him  the 
more  base  and  perfidious. 

4.  Justice  requires  the  absolute  return  of  kind- 
ness and  good  treatment  for  the  same  manifestations 
of  friendly  regard  ;  but  evil  is  never  to  be  rendered 
for  good,  nor  cursing  for  blessing  in  any  possible 
instance.  Moreover,  it  demands  that  due  considera- 
tion be  taken  and  proper  allowance  made  for  the 
unfortunate  heredity,  ignorance,  imperfection,  and 
other  unpropitious  or  demoralizing  circumstances 
affecting  wrong-doers  or  enemies  unfavorably  ;  that 
reasonable  forbearance  be  shown  amid  injuries, 
insults,  and  other  provocations  ;  that  no  sinner  be 
adjudged  more  guilty  than  he  is,  all  the  circumstan- 
ces of    his  special    case   being  considered  ;    that    no 


140  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

severer  punishment  be  ever  inflicted  or  sanctioned 
than  the  offender  rightfully  deserves;  and  that  no 
clemency,  mitigation  of  penalty,  or  pardon,  be 
refused  when  a  guilty  party  gives  evidence  of  being 
worthy  of  it  by  sincere  repentance,  reparation  of 
wrong  done,  or  reformation  of  life.  So  far  justice 
goes  in  respect  to  the  treatment  of  offenders,  crimi- 
nals, and  enemies,  and  no  farther.  The  return  of 
good  for  evil,  the  effort  to  reform  the  vicious  and 
depraved,  the  forbearance  to  be  shown  the  hardened 
sinner,  friendliness  for  the  incorrigibly  wicked, 
declining  to  take  the  life  of  the  malice-instigated 
murderer,  turning  the  right  cheek  when  the  other  is 
smitten,  willingness  to  die  rather  than  kill  a  desper- 
ate assailant,  refusal  to  approve,  encourage,  or 
engage  in  bloody  warfare,  even  though  entered  upon 
by  governmental  authority  and  waged  ostensibly  to 
repress  an  insurrection,  repel  an  invading  army, 
overthrow  tyranny,  or  establish  liberty  —  all  this  is 
outside  and  above  the  realm  where  justice  dwells 
and  holds  imperial  sway  ;  it  belongs  to  the  kingdom 
of  perfect  love,  of  brotherhood  and  peace ;  and  is 
the  dictate  of  that  principle  of  moral  order  and 
Christian  righteousness  which  transcends  justice 
and  is  the  crowning  glory  of  the  morality  of  the 
Gospel. 

5.  Finally,  justice  dictates  that  the  legitimate 
rights  of  the  animal  world  shall  be  acknowledged 
and  duly  regarded.  There  is  a  radical  difference 
between  a  human  being  and  an  animal  of  whatsoever 
_grade.  The  former  is  by  far  the  superior  of  the 
latter  and  in   a  general  way  holds  the  latter  in   sub- 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  141 

jection,  having  the  power  of  life  and  death  over  it. 
It  is  man's  prerogative  to  exterminate  such  animals 
as  he  finds  to  be  dangerous,  mischievous,  or  worth- 
less, to  slay  others  for  food  or  for  other  useful  pur- 
poses, to  put  others  to  service  for  his  convenience 
and  advantage  and  treat  them  as  property.  Never- 
theless, animals  have  rights  that  man  is  bound 
to  respect,  as  I  have  suggested  in  a  former  discourse. 
Among  these  are  the  right  to  be  spared  needless 
pain,  all  sorts  of  torture  and  protracted  suffering. 
And  in  the  case  of  domestic  beasts,  the  right  to  be 
well-housed,  well-fed,  not  to  be  over-tasked,  and  to 
be  kindly  treated  in  every  way.  Not  to  regard  these 
man'fest  rights  is  to  offend  against  a  fundamental 
principle  of  moral  order,  to  sin  not  only  against  the 
animal  world  but  against  God  and  incur  deserved 
reprobation. 

Such  is  the  exposition  I  have  to  offer  touching  the 
subject  of  justice  as  an  indispensable  virtue  or  ele- 
mental component  part  of  Christian  morality.  There 
is  no  occassion  for  citing  precepts  and  testimonies 
in  support  of  the  positions  I  have  assumed  concern- 
ing it,  or  of  the  applications  I  have  made  of  it  to 
human  conduct  in  the  various  relations  of  life. 
These  are  all  plainly  accordant  with  the  letter  of 
the  Gospel  record  and  even  more  with  its  spirit.  In 
view  of  my  statements  and  illustrations,  what  shall 
we  say  of  the  practical  justice  prevalent  in  the 
world,  yea,  in  the  nominal  Christian  world.  Where 
can  we  find  those  who  are  strictly  and  altogether 
just  .'*  just  in  all  the  important  particulars  I  have 
specified  ?     just     individually,     socially,     religiously,. 


142  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY. 

politically,  nationally,  universally  ?  Of  one  such, 
wherever  or  whoever  he  or  she  may  be,  we  might 
well  adopt  the  language  of  Jesus  and  say  as  he  did 
concerning  Nathaniel,  *'  Behold  an  Israelite  indeed, 
in  whom  there  is  no  guile."  But  the  number  of 
those  worthy  of  this  encomium  is  small,  certainly 
not  as  great  as  we  could  wish.  Yet  we  will  not 
despair.  Though  a  multitude  have  not  attained  to 
the  standard  of  perfection  in  this  respect,  though 
justice  has  not  gained  a  very  far-reaching  and  signal 
ascendancy,  yet  the  seeds  of  justice  have  been  sown 
in  many  a  heart  and  have  brought  forth  a  goodly 
measure  of  fruitage  in  many  a  life.  We  have  all,  I 
trust,  felt  the  germs  of  this  divine  virtue  swelling 
in  our  own  being  and  allowed  them  more  or  less  ac- 
tivity in  our  thought  and  conduct.  Let  us  nourish 
them  and  encourage  their  growth  till  they  come  to 
a  generous  harvest  in  a  manhood  and  womanhood 
enriched  by  them  in  the  department  of  our  being  to 
which  they  belong  —  in  a  character  distinguished  for 
justice  and  equity.  And  in  us  may  there  be  fulfilled 
the  ancient  saying,  *' The  path  of  the  just  is  as  a 
shining  light,  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the 
perfect  day." 


DISCOURSE    XL 

OX   THE    FUNDAMENTAL    VIBTUE    OF 
TR  UTHFULNESS. 

"  But  have  renounced  the  hidden  things  of  dishonesty,  not 
walking  in  craftiness,  nor  handling  the  word  of  God  deceit- 
fully ;  but  by  manifestation  of  the  truth,  commending  ourselves 
to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God,"  —  2  Cor,  iv.  2. 

"  Wherefore,  putting  away  lying,  speak  every  man  truth  with 
his  neighbor."  — Ephs.  iv.  25. 

What  I  said  of  justice  in  the  opening  sentences  of 
my  last  discourse  is  equally  applicable  to  the  subject 
of  the  present  one  as  a  fundamental  Christian  virtue. 
It  is  not  distinctively  peculiar  to  the  religion  of  the 
New  Testament,  but  is  common  to  all  religions  and 
ethical  philosophies,  which  inculcate  it  and  urge  it 
upon  their  devotees  as  a  vital  element  of  personal 
excellence,  at  least  in  the  abstract  and  preceptively. 
We  can  claim  that  Christ  and  his  Apostles  spiritual- 
ize, intensify,  and  more  stringently  apply  the  principle 
of  truthfulness  than  do  other  great  teachers  of  the 
world.  But  this  is  no  slight  pre-eminence  to  claim 
for  the  religion  of  the  New  Testament,  since  abstract 
principles  and  general  precepts  of  the  highest  order 
are  too  commonly  understood  vaguely  and  very  much 
neutralized,  if  not  grossly  perverted,  in  popular  prac- 
tice. Hence  it  is  that  every  one  praises  truth  and 
truthfulness  and  denounces  their  opposites,  yet  gen- 


144  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

erally  with  very  dim  perception  and  imperfect 
application  of  the  cardinal  principle  involved.  What 
is  needed  is  a  thorough  comprehension  and  applica- 
tion of  that  principle  in  its  most  spiritualized  form. 
In  the  light  of  Primitive  Christianity  we  may  attain 
these  results  with  great  facility  and  success  ;  not  so 
much,  perhaps,  in  the  letter  of  exposition  as  in  the 
deeper  meaning  and  use  of  the  essential  spirit  which 
lies  back  of  all  terms  and  phraseologies.  According 
to  this  light,  what  is  the  moral  significance  of  truth- 
fulness and  what  its  underlying  principle.'*  In 
response  to  these  inquiries,  I  observe: 

I.  All  conscious  manifestations  of  mind  are 
expressions  of  its  thoughts,  ideas,  desires,  intentions, 
emotions,  or  conditions,  which  are  either  real  or 
unreal.  If  real,  the  expression  is  truthful  ;  if  unreal, 
it  is  false.  Now  all  voluntary  manifestations  of 
mind,  or  nearly  all,  are  addressed  in  the  form  of 
language  to  some  other  being  or  beings,  with  the 
intention  of  making  such  being  or  beings  under- 
stand that  the  thought,  idea,  emotion,  or  condition 
is  really  what  it  is  thus  represented  to  be;  at  least, 
that  it  is  understood  to  be  so  to  the  one  who  gives  it 
expression.  If  so,  he  is  truthful  ;  if  not,  untruthful. 
The  modes  of  human  expression  are  various.  We 
manifest  mind  by  speaking  in  audible  tones,  by  man- 
ual signs  and  gestures,  by  changes  of  countenance, 
etc.,  and  even  by  significant  silence.  But  no  matter 
how  we  express  ourselves,  such  expression  must  be 
true  or  false,  wholly  or  in  part.  It  conveys  what  to 
our  own  consciousness  is  a  truth  or  a  falsehood.  It 
gives  the  party  addressed   a  correct  or  a  deceptive 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS. 


145 


apprehension  of  what  exists  in  our  own  mind  or  con- 
sciousness. I  use  this  term  consciousness  with 
caution  here ;  because  it  may  innocently  mistake 
the  reality  in  some  cases  and  deem  that  to  be  true 
which  is  not  so.  Still  the  utterance  would  be  truth- 
ful in  spirit,  if  it  were  so  to  our  own  consciousness, 
though  it  might  be  contrary  to  fact.  No  person  is 
a  deceiver  if  he  has  innocently  mistaken  the  unreal 
for  the  real.  To  be  such,  he  must  know  that  he  is 
making  a  false  statement  or  impression,  or,  at  least, 
that  he  is  communicating  as  truth  what  he  has  no 
sufficient  warrant  for  believing  to  be  such. 

2.  The  forms  of  truthfulness  and  untruthfulness 
are  various,  yet  are  they  alike  in  essence.  We  desig- 
nate them  by  different  terms  suited  to  their  respect- 
ive peculiarities.  Thus,  in  contrast :  truth,  falsehood  ; 
sincerity,  hypocrisy;  honesty,  dishonesty;  fidelity, 
treachery ;  veracity,  mendacity ;  simplicity,  duplic- 
ity; frankness,  dissimulation;  candor,  sophistry; 
etc.  When  we  use  the  terms  truth  and  falsehood 
we  usually  apply  them  to  some  statement  or  declara- 
tion made  in  speech  or  writing  which  we  deem  true 
or  false  in  itself.  Sincerity  and  hypocrisy  are  terms 
which  we  apply  to  ingenuous  motives  or  states  of 
mind,  usually  in  relation  to  sentimental,  moral,  or  reli- 
gious professions.  When  we  speak  of  one's  honesty 
or  dishonesty,  we  commonly  refer  not  so  much  to 
states  of  mind  and  heart  as  to  some  outward  act 
deemed  just  and  right,  or  fraudulent  and  wrong. 
Fidelity  and  treachery  arc  words  that  we  apply  to 
cases  in  which  people  have  or  have  not  kept  their 
promises  or  fulfilled  their  vows  or  solemn  obligations. 


146  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

Fidelity  is  faithfulness  to  trusts  and  assumed  responsi- 
bilities ;  treachery  is  unfaithfulness  to  such,  violation 
of  voluntary  pledges  or  engagements.     Veracity  and 
mendacity  relate  to  habitual  dispositions  or  states  of 
mind.     The  prevailing  disposition  to  speak  and  live 
the  truth  is  veracity  ;    the   inclination   to  falsify,  to 
misrepresent,  and  deceive  is  mendacity.     By  simplic- 
ity is  meant  the  being  and  seeming  what  one  really 
thinks,  means,  and  is  ;  by  duplicity  is  meant  equivo- 
cation, tv^ro-facedness,  pretending  to  be  what  one  is 
not.     Frankness    and    dissimulation    are    words    of 
kindred  signification.     To  speak  openly  and  without 
reserve,  especially  without  keeping  back  anything  of 
a  sinister  or  harmful  nature,  is  frankness  ;  but  a  pre- 
tence of  truthfulness  in  personal  relations,  a  show  of 
friendship  when  no  friendship  is  felt,  is  dissimulation. 
So  in  conducting  an  investigation  or  a  debate,  if  one 
manifests  a  desire  to  get  at  the  truth,  to  look  at  the 
subject  in  question  from  all  sides,  he  is  to  be  credited 
with    candor ;    but    otherwise,   if    he    misrepresents 
facts   or   distorts   arguments   or   refuses    to    hear   or 
consider  evidence,  it  is  no  injustice  to  charge  him 
with  sophistry.     But  under  whatever  names  or  forms 
truthfulness    and    untruthfulness    appear,    they    are 
essentially  one  and  the  same   virtue  or  vice  in  con- 
trast—  the  same  things,  variously  expressed. 

3.  But  why  is  truthfulness  a  fundamental  virtue 
and  untruthfulness  a  corresponding  vice  .^  For  sev- 
eral reasons.  First,  reality,  fact,  truth,  has  a  natural 
right  to  be  recognized,  understood,  and  honored ; 
unreality,  non-fact,  falsehood,  has  no  such  right. 
Second,  it  is  an  outrage  on  nature  and  the  eternal 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  147 

fitness  of  things  to  put  unreality  in  the  place  of 
reality, —  to  substitute  error  for  truth,  and  to  treat 
things  which  are  not  as  if  they  were.  Third,  the 
good  and  happiness  of  mankind  depend,  in  the  long- 
run,  on  the  real  and  the  true,  not  on  the  unreal  and 
false  ;  consequently  knowledge  of  the  real  and  true 
promotes  the  permanent  well-being  of  men,  while 
deception,  illusion,  and  falsity  tend  to  human  disorder 
and  wretchedness.  Fourth,  all  substitution  of  error 
for  truth  is  a  fraud  upon  humanity  —  an  act  opposed 
to  the  highest  interests  of  society  and  to  the  divine 
order  of  the  world.  Fifth,  whoever  consciously 
invents,  propagates,  or  practices  what  is  erroneous 
and  false,  not  only  wrongs  his  kind  thereby  but  him- 
self;  paralyzes  the  forces  that  promote  his  own 
moral  progress  and  impart  strength,  purpose,  dignity, 
and  honor  to  his  own  soul. 

For  these  and  many  other  reasons,  God  forbids 
untruthfulness  and  demands  of  His  human  children 
truth  and  veracity.  He  has  done  so  through  all  nat- 
ural and  revealed  religions,  through  all  moral  phi- 
losophies, and  I  might  add  through  the  common 
reason  and  judgment  of  mankind. 

4.  Again,  I  remark  that  truthfulness  depends 
mainly  on  the  love  of  truth  for  its  own  sake;  I 
mean  the  love  of  perceiving,  appreciating,  and 
embracing  all  things,  material,  mental,  moral,  spir- 
itual, according  to  their  absolute  reality.  This  is  the 
great  underlying  principle  of  truthfulness.  Whoever 
is  so  unscrupulous,  or  careless,  or  so  prejudiced  as 
to  feel  little  or  no  love  of  truth  per  scy  cannot  be 
thoroughly  truthful    and   worthy  of    confidence,  but 


148  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

oftentimes,  if  not  continually,  unreliable  and  treach- 
erous. This  is  why  there  is  so  much  double  dealing 
and  dishonesty  in  the  world.  Comparatively  few 
people  have  a  profound  love  of  the  truth  for  its  own 
sake  and  contemn  falsehood  under  its  every  possible 
form  of  manifestation.  The  great  majority  of  people 
do  not  intend  to  be  untruthful,  to  practice  duplicity 
and  fraud,  to  put  falsehood  for  fact  and  reality,  but 
they  are  so  inconsiderate,  so  careless,  and  so  easily 
influenced  by  fair  seemings,  that  they  are  swept 
along  almost  passively  into  the  turbid  stream  of  mis- 
representation and  deceit.  They  do  not  take  pains 
to  distinguish  in  all  cases  the  true  from  the  false. 
Besides,  it  is  often  easy  and  convenient  both  to 
cheat  and  to  be  cheated  ;  as  it  is  more  or  less  diffi- 
cult and  uncomfortable  to  be  wiser,  more  reliable, 
more  devoted  to  the  truth,  than  the  multitude.  This 
requires  one  to  do  much  sober  thinking,  to  forego 
considerable  present  advantage,  to  be  deemed  eccen- 
tric, to  lose  the  exhilaration  of  popular  sympathy, 
and  to  endure  more  or  less  neglect  if  not  scorn  and 
contempt.  Nevertheless  it  pays  a  hundred  fold  in 
the  end  to  be  truthful  and  put  one's  self  on  the  side 
of  truth. 

A  great  difficulty  to  be  overcome  by  ordinarily 
sincere  and  honest  minds  is  that  error  and  falsity  not 
only  often  assume  the  raiment  of  truth,  but  actually 
have  much  of  truth  intermingled  with  them.  There 
is  very  little  unmixed  falsehood  in  the  world ;  as 
there  is  little  counterfeit  coin  without  some  grains 
of  precious  metal.  The  counterfeit  is  thus  rendered 
less  distinguishable  from  the  genuine  and  more  cur- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  149 

rent  than  would  otherwise  be  the  case.  So  with 
many  untruths.  We  must  therefore  exercise  discre- 
tion in  rendering  judgment  and  moderate  our  blame 
in  many  cases  apparently  worthy  of  severe  condemna- 
tion. People  deceive  others  because  they  are  them- 
selves deceived.  They  mistake  mixed  truth  for  pure 
truth  and  thereby  work  mischief  and  harm.  The 
number  of  conscious,  bare-faced,  open  hypocrites  and 
liars  is  smaller  than  rash,  indiscriminating  judges  are 
apt  to  assume  ;  though  doubtless  there  are  too  many 
of  them.  We  must  be  careful  not  to  set  down  as 
wilful  sinners  in  this  regard  half  of  those  who  prac- 
tice untruthfuluess  in  some  of  its  manifold  forms  ; 
for  many  are  its  unconscious  and  unwilling  dupes 
and  instruments.  Nevertheless,  we  should  abhor  the 
sin,  even  when  in  strict  justice  we  ought  in  some  meas- 
ure to  absolve  the  sinner  ;  abhor  uncompromisingly 
all  error  and  falsity,  however  sincerely  it  be  mis- 
taken for  truth.  And  we  can  never  attain  to  eminent 
truthfulness  and  veracity  ourselves  without  loving 
and  honoring  truth  in  the  spirit  of  truth  and  for  its 
own  sake.  We  must  desire  most  intensely  to  know, 
believe,  appreciate,  and  embrace  all  realities  neces- 
sary to  our  sustenance  and  development  in  every 
department  of  existence.  We  must  earnestly  pray 
to  be  preserved  from  all  kinds  of  misconception, 
delusion,  and  error ;  to  view  ourselves  and  all  that 
pertains  to  us  only  in  the  light  of  the  eternal  reality  ; 
and  to  regard  in  the  same  light  all  material,  mental, 
and  spiritual  beings  and  things  within  the  range  of 
our  study  and  contemplation,  from  the  utmost  con- 
ceivable heights  to  the  lowest  abysses.     No  matter 


150  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

whether  any  truth  or  fact  brought  to  our  notice  be 
beautiful  or  ugly,  agreeable  or  disagreeable,  popular 
or  unpopular,  profitable  or  unprofitable  at  present, 
ancient  or  modern,  coincident  with  our  preconceived 
ideas  and  opinions  or  repugnant  to  them  ;  whether 
held  by  saint  or  sinner,  by  Christian  or  pagan,  by 
friends  or  enemies;  if  it  commends  itself,  after  fair 
investigation  to  our  highest  convictions  as  truth,  we 
must  in  good  conscience  acknowledge  it,  bow  before 
it,  bear  witness  to  it,  and  stand  uncompromisingly 
by  it  whatever  betide.  And  vice  versa.  Any 
assumed  truth  or  fact,  however  pleasant,  popular, 
advantageous  for  the  present,  consonant  with  our 
feelings  or  prejudices;  though  commended  to  us  by 
our  dearest  friends  or  by  the  best  of  men;  if,  upon 
examination,  it  is  proved  to  our  judgment  and  moral 
sense  to  be  an  error  or  a  fiction,  then  are  we  to 
reject  it  and  testify  against  it  with  equal  determina- 
tion and  zeal,  otherwise  no  one  can  tell  into  what 
slime  pits  of  illusion,  falsity,  degradation,  and  shame, 
we  may  some  day  fall. 

5.  But,  it  may  be  asked,  must  we  seek  after, 
investigate,  and  come  to  an  understanding  in  regard 
to  all  reality  before  resting  from  our  labors  ;  before 
finding  satisfaction  and  happiness?  Must  we  appre- 
hend and  master  all  truth  before  we  can  feel  that  we 
have  attained  the  great  end  of  existence  and  gained 
the  approving  favor  of  our  Father  in  heaven  ?  By  no 
means.  I  said,  all  truth  proper  and  needful  to  our 
growth,  welfare,  and  happiness.  Whatever  of  truth 
for  the  time  being  it  is  impossible,  or  improper,  or 
unnecessary  for  us  to  concern  ourselves   about,  it  is 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  151 

our  duty  to  pass  by  and  leave  unconsidered.  Of 
such  there  is  an  infinitude,  and  we  are  but  finite,  and 
by  the  very  limitations  of  our  nature  cannot  compass 
and  comprehend  the  all  of  wisdom  or  of  knowledge. 
"  Who  by  searching  can  find  out  the  Almighty  to 
perfection.^"  and  all  His  works  and  ways?  Who 
indeed,  can  explore  all  the  heights  and  depths  of  the 
material  universe  ?  Much  more  all  the  wonders  and 
mysteries  of  the  spiritual  creation  of  God  ?  There 
are  however,  ample  fields  for  us  to  traverse  and 
study;  realities  in  abundance  into  which  we  not  only 
can  but  ought  to  search  ;  which  it  is  not  only  proper 
but  indispensable  for  us  to  understand  ;  which  it  is 
highly  necessary  that  we  should  know  beyond  all 
doubt  or  peradventure,  in  order  to  attain  the  great 
end  of  our  being  or  gain  solid  happiness.  In  this 
regard  and  to  the  extent  indicated  is  our  duty  plain 
and  imperative. 

Again  it  may  be  asked,  must  we  bear  open  witness 
to  all  the  truth  made  known  to  us.-*  must  we  publish 
all  the  secrets  confided  by  investigation  or  otherwise 
to  our  keeping?  Not  necessarily.  The  old  adage  is 
just,  "The  truth  is  not  to  be  spoken  at  all  times." 
There  may  be  circumstances  in  which  it  would  be 
unwise,  improper,  unnecessary,  even  wrong  to  make 
open  proclamation  of  all  we  know.  The  very  high- 
est truth  is  not  to  be  uttered  unqualifiedly,  without 
regard  to  times  and  seasons,  without  regard  to  the 
objects  to  be  promoted  by  its  utterance,  or  to  the 
condition — the  state  of  mind  and  heart  of  those 
who  might  hear  it.  Jesus  had  many  things  to  say 
to   his  disciples,  but    he  must    needs  wait  till    they 


152  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

could  bear  them.  The  principle  underlying  and  ani- 
mating the  duty  of  truthfulness  requires  not  that 
we  shall  tell  all  the  truth  we  have  acquired,  make 
public  all  facts  of  which  we  have  knowledge,  but 
that  so  far  as  we  do  speak  or  reveal  ourselves  we 
shall  do  so  without  misrepresentation,  without  mak- 
ing persons  or  things  appear  in  a  false  light,  without 
perverting  realities  or  putting  falsities  in  place  of 
realities.  Whether  we  speak  or  refrain  from  speak- 
ing in  any  given  case,  whether  we  reveal  or  withhold 
what  we  know  upon  any  particular  subject,  depends 
upon  considerations  of  propriety  and  obligation  then 
and  there  involved.  But  if  we  utter  ourselves  at  all, 
the  duty  to  adhere  strictly  to  the  truth  is  absolute 
and  irrepealable. 

Once  more  it  may  be  asked,  does  the  morality  of 
truthfulness  forbid  all  fiction  in  literature,  all  ideal- 
ism in  art,  all  flights  of  the  imagination  in  poetry, 
etc  ?  everything  but  barren  fact,  unadorned  reality, 
the  naked  truth'^.  Is  there  no  room  or  place  within 
the  limitations  of  human  responsibility  for  any  kind 
of  disguise  or  simulation,  for  histrionic  impersonation, 
dramatic  representation,  or  illusory  exhibitions  of 
any  sort  ?  Answer  :  strict  truthfulness  allows  such 
forms  of  fiction  as  assume  to  be  nothing  but  fiction, 
and  especially  if  they  are  honestly  designed  and 
adapted  to  teach  important  lessons  and  so  subserve 
the  best  interests  of  humanity.  But  it  allows  of  no 
fiction  that  pretends  to  be  fact,  or  that  is  not  calcu- 
lated to  instruct  and  inspire  the  minds  and  hearts  of 
men  and  so  promote  some  useful,  salutary,  and  bene- 
ficent end  ;  in  other  words,  the  cause  of  truth  itself. 


AND    ITS    CORUUPTIONS.  153 

The  same  is  substantially  the  case  respecting  all 
products  of  artistic  skill  not  drawn  from  life,  all 
dramatic  representation  and  pictures  of  the  imagina- 
tion in  whatever  form  they  may  appear.  They  must, 
however,  stand  for  what  they  really  are  and  put  forth 
no  false  pretences  or  claims.  They  must  be  of  such 
a  character  as  not  to  permanently  mislead  or  deceive 
those  to  whom  they  are  addressed  but  to  instruct 
and  benefit  them.  If  in  any  case  they  can  be  shown 
to  have  a  contrary  effect  —  if  they  induce  a  disre- 
gard for  the  truth  or  cause  people  to  undervalue  its 
importance  or  worth  as  one  of  the  indispensable  ele- 
ments of  character  and  as  a  primary  duty  of  man, 
they  are  to  be  discountenced  and  condemned.  In 
no  case  must  there  be  open  falsehood,  no  pleasing 
deception  or  illusion,  that  may  not  be  easily  explained 
or  that  is  not  understood  to  be  such  and  not  a  real- 
ity. Any  performance  or  exhibition  that  makes 
fiction  appear  to  be  fact,  or  that  in  any  way  conveys 
to  the  mind  of  the  participator  or  observer  a  perma- 
nent false  impression,  is  mischievous  and  repre- 
hensible. 

These  strictures  will  apply  to  various  kinds  of 
amusement  that  have  a  place  in  modern  society.  So 
far  as  any  form  of  merry-making  or  pleasure-promot- 
ing comes  within  the  lines  of  restriction  laid  down 
it  may  be  regarded  as  innocent  and  allowable. 
There  may  be  much  ingenious  and  studied  secrecy, 
as  in  the  preparation  of  Christmas  presents  or  in 
arranging  for  a  surprise  party  —  a  kind  of  temporary 
deception  of  course  which  is  neither  intended  nor 
calculated  to  permanently  mislead  or  cheat  an)'  one 


154  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

but  only  to  add  to  the  pleasure  of  those  concerned 
when  all  plans  are  consummated  and  all  secrecy  is 
laid  open  to  the  light,  adding  to  the  interest  and 
charm  of  the  occasion.  The  claims  of  truth  under 
such  circumstances  are  in  no  proper  sense  ignored 
or  violated.  The  same  may  be  said  in  substance  of 
tableaux  and  kindred  counterfeit  presentments  ;  also 
of  theatrical  performances  and  dramatic  representa- 
tions of  whatever  sort.  These  are  not  in  themselves 
or  necessarily  sinful,  or  contrary  to  pure  truthful- 
ness ;  though  liable  to  become  so  by  perversion  and 
abuse.  I  do  not,  like  some  others,  dignify  or  exalt 
overmuch  any  of  these  expedients  for  recreation  as 
means  of  moral  discipline  or  schools  of  virtue,  even 
while  admitting  that  they  may  be  of  a  nature  to 
impart  salutary  lessons  pertaining  to  personal  charac- 
ter, domestic  order,  and  social  life;  as  in  the  case  of 
''Six  Nights  in  a  Bar  Room,"  and  ''Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin."  But  their  chief  use  is  that  of  furnishing, 
when  properly  regulated,  wholesome  and  meritori- 
ous amusement  for  considerable  classes  of  people. 
Amusement  is  natural,  useful,  and  desirable  in  its 
proper  time  and  place,  chiefly  as  conducive  to  healths 
sociability,  and  relaxation  from  the  more  onerous 
burdens  of  life,  but  it  is  not  its  function  to  teach 
religion,  morals,  philosophy,  or  science.  Neither  is 
it  self-regulating,  but  requires  wise  and  watchful 
supervision  lest  it  run  into  excess  or  misuse  and  so 
defeat  the  very  ends  it  is  designed  to  secure.  Under 
proper  moral  and  religious  control  it  will  be  innocent, 
salutary,  and  worthy  of  encouragement  and  support, 
thus  fulfilling  its  legitimate  and  laudable  office. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS. 


155 


Something  of  corresponding  import  may  be  said 
of  symbolism  in  religion  ;  that  is,  the  use  of  signs,, 
like  that  of  the  cross,  of  emblems,  like  the  bread 
and  wine  of  the  eucharist,  of  pictures,  etc.  for  the 
purpose  of  awakening  pious  emotions  in  the  breast,  of 
producing  moral  and  spiritual  impressions  upon  the 
mind  and  heart,  or  of  perpetuating  such  emotions 
and  impressions  already  existing  there.  Such  aids 
to  devotion  and  virtue  are,  of  course,  harmless  in 
and  of  themselves,  and  may  be  employed  to  advan- 
tage and  approvingly  so  long  as  they  are  held  strictly 
subordinate  to  and  promotive  of  the  ends  in  view. 
But  they,  too,  are  liable  to  abuse  —  are  liable  to 
usurp  the  place  of  the  objects  they  should  serve;  so 
that  the  symbol  would  become  a  substitute  for  the 
thing  symbolized  and  interest  in  or  regard  for  the 
types  and  signs  and  badges  of  religion  supplant  reli- 
gion itself  in  the  thought  and  life  of  men.  In  such 
a  case  they  would  become  hindrances  and  not  helps 
to  moral  and  spiritual  health  and  progress,  snares  to 
entrap  and  enslave  the  soul  and  not  wings  to  bear  it 
upward  and  onward  to  heavenly  heights.  So  that 
here  as  in  other  matters  mentioned  a  wise  caution 
and  a  discriminating  supervision  and  care  are 
needful. 

Finally,  it  may  be  asked,  does  pure  truthfulness 
forbid  the  manifold  usages  in  social  and  domestic 
intercourse  which  are  nothing  more  or  less  than 
polite  and  pleasing  falsities,  or  lies  of  convenience 
it  may  be  ?  Certainly,  so  far  as  they  are  falsities 
and  lies  and  are  intended  or  calculated  to  mislead 
and   deceive.     Their  being  polite,  pleasing,  conven- 


156  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

lent,  or  even  common,  does  not  change  their  moral 
quality.  Hypocrisy,  deception,  misrepresentation, 
falsehood,  however  smooth,  smiling,  complimentary, 
flattering,  are  morally  wrong  and  reprehensible,  and 
fruitful  of  mischievous  results.  They  undermine 
character  and  destroy  confidence.  They  form  no 
necessary  part  of  genuine  politeness,  hospitality, 
civility,  or  good  manners,  which  are  most  needful  to 
individual  and  social  happiness.  These  spring  from 
pure  benevolence,  kindly  feeling,  and  sacred  regard 
for  moral  principle  in  the  heart.  What  is  a  smile,  a 
welcome,  a  caress,  a  compliment,  a  flattering  atten- 
tion, if  false  ?  It  is  only  a  discourtesy,  a  sugared 
insult,  an  imposition,  a  cruelty  indeed,  and  very 
likely  to  be  discovered  sooner  or  later,  despite  its 
charming  disguise,  and  bring  its  perpetrator  to 
shame.  Truthfulness  never  requires  us  to  be  rude, 
coarse,  ill-mannered,  or  roughly  brusque,  or  impolite, 
even  towards  the  unprincipled  and  wicked,  though  it 
may  sometimes  demand  that  we  be  plainly  if  not 
painfully  severe  in  rebuking  their  follies  and  faults. 
Neither  does  it  require  that  we  tell  disagreeable 
persons  our  opinion  of  them,  that  we  express  all  our 
dislikes,  make  known  all  our  thoughts  and  convic- 
tions, or  even  confess  to  human  ears  all  our  con- 
scious imperfections  and  sins.  Duty  to  God  and 
man  may  and  often  does  prompt  us  to  hold  ourselves 
in  check  and  to  keep  from  others  many  facts  or 
truths  with  which  we  are  conversant.  But  what  we 
do  divulge  must  be  the  truth  and  not  a  falsehood  — 
must  represent  things  as  they  are  and  not  as  they 
are  not.     True   politeness,  courtesy,   urbanity,  good 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  157 

manners,  are  everywhere  needed,  but  they  should 
be  disconnected  with  everything  like  dissimulation, 
hypocrisy,  and  heartless  pretence,  or  they  are  an 
offence  to  good  morals  and  to  good  men  and  women. 
Thus  have  I  gone  over  the  ground  proposed  in  the 
opening  paragraphs  of  this  discourse,  examining  the 
subject  of  truthfulness  or  veracity  in  the  light  of 
Primitive  Christianity  and  in  strict  accordance  with 
the  dictates  of  reason.  In  view  of  what  has  been 
said  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  this  virtue  is 
fundamental  to  a  perfect  system  of  morality  and  of 
sacred  and  indispensable  importance  in  the  develop- 
ment of  a  noble  type  of  character.  Christianity 
would  be  a  hollow  and  defective  religion  if  it  did  not 
include  and  magnify  this  element  of  duty  and  right- 
eousness, as  it  most  emphatically  does.  Why  then  is 
Christendom  so  fraught  with  untruthfulness,  decep- 
tion, charlatanry,  and  fraud  in  manifold  forms  .^ 
Every  one  praises  this  virtue  but  how  few  practise 
it  perfectly  !  How  much  pretentious  respectability, 
morality,  philanthropy,  religion,  there  is  in  the 
world  !  To  believe  rightly,  to  sentimentalize  zeal- 
ously, to  say  shibboleth  correctly,  is  deemed  all 
important,  but  to  live  honestly,  to  be  what  you  seem 
and  seem  what  you  are  is  of  little  consequence  ;  and 
misrepresentation  and  falsification  are  no  serious 
offences,  especially  if  they  can  be  made  to  help  a 
good  cause.  Woe  to  the  good  cause  that  can  be 
helped  by  such  objectionable  means  !  If  it  cannot 
be  advanced  otherwise  let  it  perish.  Who  lies  for 
any  purpose,  however  excellent,  is  no  true  saint, 
reformer,     philanthropist,     Christian.     Without     the 


158  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY. 

truth  and  against  the  truth  there  is  no  absolute 
and  endurino:  o:ood.  Therefore  let  us  love  the  truth, 
seek  the  truth,  obey  the  truth,  exemplify  the  truth, 
and  it  shall  be  well  with  us,  now,  henceforth,  and 
forevermore. 

"  Think  truly,  and  thy  thoughts 

Shall  the  world's  famine  feed; 
Speak  truly,  and  each  word  of  thine 

Shall  be  a  fruitful  seed  ; 
Live  truly,  and  thy  life  shall  be 

A  great  and  noble  Creed." 


DISCOURSE    XII. 

Oy  THE  SUPREME    VIRTUE   OF  PERFECT  LOVE. 

"Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  and  hate  thine  enemy.  But  I  say  unto  you  Love 
your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that 
hate  you  and  pray  for  them  which  despitefully  use  you  and 
persecute  you  ;  that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven;  for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the 
evil  and  on  the  good  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on 
the  unjust.  For  if  ye  love  them  which  love  you  what  reward 
have  ye  ?  Do  not  even  the  publicans  the  same  ?  And  if  ye 
salute  your  brethren  only,  what  do  ye  more  than  others  ?  Do 
not  the  publicans  so  ?  Be  ye  therefore  perfect  as  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect."  —  AfaU.  v.  43-48. 

In  this  passage  we  have  presented  to  us  the 
crowning  excellence  of  primitive  Christian  moral- 
ity—  the  enjoined  obligation  to  cherish  and  exercise 
perfect  love  towards  all  human  beings,  regardless 
of  race,  nationality,  character,  or  moral  desert.  No 
other  religion  or  philosophy  known  to  me  ever 
required  this  extreme,  unqualified,  and  unlimited 
manifestation  of  a  kindly,  humane  spirit.  Others 
teach  the  duty  of  benevolence  in  a  general  way, 
and  some  give  it  a  wide  application  even  toward 
offenders  and  enemies,  but  they  all  make  specific 
limitations  and  justify  the  utter  disregard  of  per- 
sonal well  being  and  even  of  life  itself  in  extreme 
cases  of  guilt  or  hostility.     Christ  and  his  Apostles 


160  PRIMITIVIv  CHRISTIANITY 

allow  no  such  limitations,  qualifications,  or  excep- 
tions, either  in  teaching  or  in  practice.  The  two 
facts  that  they  made  no  exceptions  or  limitations 
to  their  broad  preceptive  teaching,  and  that  their 
example  was  in  exact  accordance  therewith,  are  of 
the  highest  importance  in  this  discussion.  For  they 
prove  that  those  teachings  were  intended  to  convey 
the  essential  meaning  and  to  have  the  universal 
application  which  they  obviously  express,  and  also 
that  pure  Christian  morality  is  really  as  incompar- 
ably excellent  as  I  have  claimed.  Had  Christ  and 
the  Apostles  left  other  precepts  opposed  or  excep- 
tional to  those  referred  to,  we  should  have  been 
obliged  to  understand  them  in  some  restricted 
sense ;  and  if  their  authors  had  in  certain  cases 
acted  contrary  to  their  seeming  meaning,  it  would 
have  proved  either  that  they  intended  to  have  them 
understood  in  a  restricted  sense  or  that  they  were 
themselves  deficient  in  the  virtue  they  enjoined  on 
their  followers.  If  the  former,  these  precepts  mean 
much  less  than  they  purport ;  if  the  latter,  then 
Jesus  like  many  other  great  teachers  of  religion  and 
philosophy,  preached  what  he  could  not  or  would 
not  practice  himself.  In  such  a  case  the  less  said 
in  praise  of  Primitive  Christianity  the  better. 

It  is  unquestionably  true  that  we  can  quote  a  few 
passages  from  the  Old  Testament  which,  taken  by 
themselves  and  in  the  letter  of  them,  seem  to  be 
similar  to  those  found  in  the  New  respecting  the 
supremacy  of  love.  Some  such  may  be  found  in 
the  sacred  writings  of  other  nations  than  the  Jews 
and  in  the   expositions   of    moral    philosophers  gen- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  161 

erally ;  though  such  are  tame  in  comparison  with 
the  ones  now  under  consideration.  But  it  is  an 
imposition  to  quote  the  former  as  of  the  same 
nature  and  significance  as  the  latter;  especially  to 
quote  them  as  proof  that  Christ  taught  no  radically 
higher  morality  than  Moses,  Confucius,  Zoroaster, 
Plato,  etc.  I  pronounce  this  an  imposition  for  the 
reason  that  those  ancient  religious  and  moral  teach- 
ers have  left  on  record  a  multitude  of  maxims  or 
instructions  expressly  authorizing  and  justifying 
retaliation  and  pitiless  vengeance  towards  excep- 
tional classes  of  offenders,  which  partially  if  not 
wholly  neutralized  what  they  may  have  said  of  an 
opposite  character;  also  because  they  deliberately 
and  habitually  practiced  revenge,  injurious  violence, 
vindictive  punishment,  and  conflicts  with  deadly 
weapons,  which  was  in  open  and  undisguised  oppo- 
sition to  the  example  of  Christ. 

I  am  scrupulously  careful  to  start  fairly  in  what 
I  claim  for  Primitive  Christianity  respecting  this  doc- 
trine of  perfect  love,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  preclude 
the  various  unwarrantable  assumptions  which  deny 
that  the  positive  teachings  of  the  New  Testament 
have  any  such  radical,  comprehensive,  and  uncom- 
promising import  as  is  indicated  in  their  verbal 
form  and  as  I  claim.  This  claim  I  make  and  insist 
upon  most  strenuously  not  only  because  a  fair  con- 
struction of  the  letter  of  the  text  justifies  such  a 
view  of  these  teachings,  but  because  there  are 
no  other  passages  that  modify  or  limit  them,  and 
because  their  authors  devotedly  illustrated  their 
divine  spirit    in    character    and    life.     If    it    can    be 


162  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

shown  that  I  am  mistaken  in  respect  to  these  two 
points  I  should  have  no  tenable  ground  upon  which 
to  maintain  the  position  I  feel  compelled  to  take 
upon  the  matter  in  question.  If  these  are  conceded 
my  position  is  impregnable.  Confident  that  it  is  so, 
I  proceed  with  my  exposition.  What  then  is  it  my 
province  to  do  ? 

I.  To  present  a  sufficient  amount  of  preceptive 
and  exemplary  testimony  from  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures  to  make  it  absolutely  certain  that  Christ 
and  his  ambassadors  distinctly  and  uniformly  taught 
this  sublime  doctrine  of  perfect  love.  The  text  at 
the  head  of  this  discourse  is  plain  and  explicit 
upon  this  point,  and  Luke's  report  of  the  same 
sermon  from  which  I  extract  the  passage,  while 
changing  the  phraseology  does  not  change  the  sen- 
timent inculcated.  He  says;  "As  ye  would  that 
men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  also  to  them  likewise- 
For  if  ye  love  them  which  love  you  what  thank  have 
ye  ;  for  sinners  love  those  that  love  them.  And  if 
ye  do  good  to  them  which  do  good  to  you,  what 
thank  have  ye  ?  for  sinners  also  do  even  the  same. 
And  if  ye  lend  to  them  of  whom  ye  hope  to  receive, 
what  thank  have  ye  .-*  for  sinners  also  lend  to  sin- 
ners to  receive  as  much  again.  But  love  ye  your 
enemies  and  do  good  and  lend,  hoping  for  nothing 
again,  and  your  reward  shall  be  great,  and  ye  shall 
be  the  children  of  the  Highest ;  for  he  is  kind  unto 
the  unthankful  and  the  evil.  Be  ye  therefore  mer- 
ciful as  your  Father  also  is  merciful." — Luke  vi. 
31-36.  I  pass  to  other  quotations:  "Behold  I  send 
you  forth  as  sheep  in  the   midst  of   wolves  ;    be  ye 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  163 

therefore  wise  as  serpents  and   harmless  as  doves." 

—  Matt.  X.  i6.  ''Then  came  Peter  to  him  and  said, 
Lord  how  oft  shall  my  brother  sin  against  me  and 
I  forgive  him.?  till  seven  times?  Jesus  saith  unto 
him,  I  say  not  unto  thee,  until  seven  times,  but 
until  seventy  times  seven."  —  Matt,  xviii.  21,  22. 
When  the  inhospitable  Samaritans  refused  to  enter- 
tain Jesus  and  his  disciples,  James  and  John  were 
highly  indignant  and  wanted  to  resent  it,  saying 
unto  their  master,  "Lord,  wilt  thou  that  we  com- 
mand fire  to  come  down  from  heaven  and  consume 
them  even  as  Elias  did  }  But  he  turned  and 
rebuked  them  and  said,  Ye  know  not  what  manner 
of  spirit  ye  are  of.  For  the  Son  of  man  is  not 
come  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save  them."  — 
Luke  ix.  54-56.  When  a  certain  lawyer  asked 
Jesus  to  tell  him  who  was  his  neighbor,  he  answered 
him  with  the  Parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  add- 
ing to  it  the  injunction,   "Go  thou  and  do  likewise." 

—  lb.  X.  29-37.  When  Peter  would  defend  him  at 
the  time  of  his  betrayal,  drawing  a  sword  and 
wounding  a  servant  of  the  high  priest,  Jesus  healed 
the  wound,  and  turning  to  the  disciple  said,  "  Put 
up  thy  sword  again  into  its  place  ;  for  they  that 
take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the  sword."  — 
Matt.  xxvi.  52.  When  arraigned  before  the  Roman 
governor  as  a  promoter  of  sedition,  he  said,  "  My 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world  ;  if  my  kingdom  were 
of  this  world,  then  would  my  servants  fight  that 
I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the  Jews." — JoJin  xviii. 
36.  When  expiring  in  agony  on  the  cross  amid  the 
taunts    and    maledictions    of    his    enemies,    Christ 


164  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

prayed  for  them,  thus;  "Father  forgive  them  for 
they  know  not  what  they  do." — Luke  xxiii.  34. 
Of  the  two  great  commands  on  which  he  declared 
hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets  he  affirmed  that 
the  second  is  like  unto  the  first,  "Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  —  J/(?/A  xxii.   39. 

We  turn  now  to  the  apostolic  teaching :  "  Let 
love  be  without  dissimulation."  "Bless  them  which 
persecute  you  ;  bless  and  curse  not."  "  Recompense 
to  no  men  evil  for  evil."  "Avenge  not  yourselves 
but  rather  give  place  unto  wrath  ;  for  it  is  written, 
Vengeance  is  mine,  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord. 
Therefore  if  thine  enemy  hunger  feed  him  ;  if  he 
thirst,  give  him  drink."  "Be  not  overcome  of  evil, 
but  overcome  evil  with  good."  —  Rom.  xii.  9,  14,  17, 
19-21.  "Being  reviled,  we  bless;  being  persecuted 
we  suffer  it."  —  i  Cor.  iv.  12.  "  See  that  none  ren- 
der evil  for  evil  unto  any  man  ;  but  ever  follow 
that  which  is  good,  both  among  yourselves  and  to 
all  men."  —  i  Thess.  v.  15.  "Put  on  charity  (love) 
which  is  the  bond  of  perfectness."  —  Co/,  iii.  14. 
"Charity  (love)  sufferet  hlong  and  is  kind;  charity 
(love)  envieth  not,  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed 
up,  doth  not  behave  itself  unseemly,  seeketh  not  her 
own,  is  not  easily  provoked,  thinketh  no  evil ;  rejoic- 
eth  not  in  iniquity  but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth  ;  beareth 
all  things,  believeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things." 
"Charity  (love)  never  faileth."  "And  now  abideth 
faith,  hope,  charity  (love);  but  the  greatest  of 
these  is  charity"  (love).— i  Cor.  xiii.  4-8,  13. 
"  Love  worketh  no  ill  to  his  neighbor  ;  therefore 
love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law."  —  Ro7h.  xiii.  10. 


AND    ITS    COHRUrXIONS.  165 

"This  is  thankworthy,  if  a  man  for  conscience 
toward  God  endure  grief,  suffering  wrongfully.  For 
what  glory  is  it,  if,  when  ye  be  buffeted  for  your 
faults,  ye  shall  take  it  patiently?  But  if  when  ye 
do  well  and  suffer  for  it,  ye  take  it  patiently,  this 
is  acceptable  with  God.  For  even  hereunto  were 
ye  called  ;  because  Christ  also  suffered  for  us,  leav- 
ing us  an  example  that  ye  should  follow  his  steps  ; 
who  did  no  sin,  neither  was  guile  found  in  his 
mouth  ;  who,  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled  not 
again;  when  he  suffered,  he  threatened  not,  but 
committed  himself  to  him  that  judgeth  righteously." 
—  I  Peter  ii.  19-23.  "Let  none  of  you  suffer  as 
a  murderer,  as  a  thief,  as  a  busybody  in  other 
men's  matters.  Yet  if  any  man  suffer  as  a  Chris- 
tian, let  him  not  be  ashamed;  but  let  him  glorify 
God  in  this  behalf." — lb.  iv.  15,  16.  These  extracts 
clearly  set  forth  the  indisputable  New  Testament 
doctrine  concerning  this  supreme  virtue  and  crown- 
ing glory  of  the  morality  of  Primitive  Christianity, 
and  need  not  be  multiplied  ;  and,  as  before  stated, 
there  is  nothing  in  the  entire  scripture  record  that 
contradicts  or  invalidates  them,  or  limits  their 
scope  and  application  in  the  least  degree. 

2.  We  now  need  to  understand  clearly  the  exact 
meaning  of  these  passages,  their  bearing  and  moral 
force  as  helps  in  the  development  of  character  and 
guides  to  a  divine  life.  They  prescribe  duties 
towards  "the  unthankful  and  evil";  towards  ene- 
mies, injurers,  persecutors,  offenders,  and  sinners 
of  whatevei"  sort  ;  not  alone  towards  friends,  well- 
disposed  persons,  benefactors,  and   righteous  fellow- 


166  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

men   generally.     Common    justice    dictates   that   we 
love  such  as  are    like   ourselves,  such    as    love    us ; 
and  that  we  treat  others  as  they  treat  us.     But  in 
Christian    morality  we    have  a    higher  rule   of    con- 
duct.     Here    perfect    love,    which    surmounts    the 
granite  pedestal   of   justice,  lays  extraordinary  obli- 
gations   upon    us  —  obligations    which    the    favored 
party    has    no    right    to    claim,    which    characterize 
pure    benevolence  even  unto  enemies  and    personal 
offenders  generally.     But  what  is  it   in    such   a  fel- 
low   human    being    that   justly   assigns    him   to   the 
reprehensible    class   in    which    he   is   found  —  which 
renders  him  an  enemy  or  offender  .''    Not  his  intrinsic 
nature  or  personal  selfhood  in  itself,  but  something 
in    his    actions,  motives,  feelings,  which    is    morally 
if   not  malignantly  wrong.      It  is  the  will    or  dispo- 
sition   or    desire    to    injure    or    harm    another;    and 
especially  such  will,   disposition,    or    desire   towards 
one  who    has  done    nothinsf   to   deserve   such   treat- 
ment.     This   proportionally  aggravates   the  guilt    of 
the  enemy  or  offender.     And  now  what  is  it  in  the 
sense  of  the  precepts  quoted,  to  love  such  an  one  ? 
Is  it  to  cherish  and  feel    a  passionate  fondness  for 
his  person,  a  desire  for  reciprocal    fondness  on    his 
part,  for  intimacy  and  mutual  attachment.^     Not  at 
all.     That  is  another  kind   or   form    of    love ;    right 
in  its  place  and   under    proper  circumstances.     But 
the  love  we  are  now  defining  is  of  a  different  sort. 
It  is  pure  good  will.     Does  it  require  us  to  ignore 
or  underestimate  the  guilt    of    an    offender    in    any 
case  ;  to  approve,  encourage,  fellowship   him  in   his 
sin  ?     Surely  not.     Does  it  forbid  our  remonstrating 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  167 

with  him,  rebuking  him,  or  restraining  him  to  the 
extent  of  preventing  him  from  doing  harm,  when 
it  can  be  done  without  injury  to  him  ?  No.  What 
then  does  it  require?  This:  that  we  desire  and 
endeavor  to  promote  his  highest  good  ;  to  reform 
him,  curing  him  of  his  evil  disposition  ;  to  make  of 
him  a  friend,  a  kind,  upright,  trustworthy  man.  It 
requires  that  we  cherish  and  manifest  only  a  spirit 
of  kindness  and  beneficence  towards  him,  not  of 
hatred  and  revenge  ;  that  we  do  him  no  harm  ;  that 
we  neglect  no  known  means  of  converting  him  from 
the  error  of  his  ways  and  of  bringing  him  to  the 
enjoyment  of  the  highest  good  possible  to  him  ; 
and  that  we  patiently  endure  whatever  suffering, 
self-denial,  obloquy,  martyrdom,  may  be  incidentally 
unavoidable  in  thus  faithfully  exemplifying  this  pure 
fellow-feeling,  benevolence,  and  charity.  The  duty 
under  notice  hath  this  extent  and  nothing  less 
sufficeth   it. 

3.  Is  this  duty,  as  I  have  stated  it,  reasonable 
and  fitting  in  the  nature  of  things  and  in  the  moral 
order  of  the  world  ?  I  will  endeavor  to  show  that 
it  is.  Are  all  human  beings  created  in  the  divine 
image  and  destined  to  an  immortal  and  finally  holy 
existence  ?  So  I  have  shown.  Then  every  individ- 
ual one  of  them  is  of  inestimable  worth,  and  ought 
to  be  treated  as  I  have  set  forth,  even  the  guiltiest, 
in  order  to  insure  to  him  the  attainment  of  the 
highest  possibilities  of  his  being.  The  ultimate 
good  of  each  and  every  one  should  be  sacredly 
regarded.  Is  the  doctrine  of  God's  universal  Father- 
hood true  }     And  does  he  treat  all  human  beimrs  as 


168  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

his  rational  and  spiritual  offspring?  If  so,  we  ought 
to  regard  and  treat  them  all  accordingly,  exercise 
love  toward  them  all,  "that  we  may  be  the  children 
of  the  Highest";  be  **  merciful  as  he  is  merciful" 
and  ''perfect  as  he  is  perfect."  Is  the  doctrine  of 
man's  universal  Brotherhood  true  ?  And  is  the 
highest  good  of  each  and  all  the  same  ?  Certainly. 
Then  it  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  it  is  every 
one's  noblest  duty  to  seek  every  other  one's  wel- 
fare as  he  seeks  his  own.  What  would  be  gained 
by  acting  upon  any  other  principle  or  from  any 
other  motive.^  Does  it  do  any  good  to  hate  a  fel- 
low being  .^  Does  it  benefit  either  us  or  him.' 
Neither  a  particle,  but  results  in  more  or  less  evil 
to  both.  Does  it  do  any  good  to  be  careless  or 
indifferent  concerning  another's  well-being — to  dis- 
regard or  ignore  in  any  case  his  real  happiness  ? 
Never.  It  is  really  best  for  each  and  every  one 
that  every  other  should  by  wise  and  beneficent 
training  and  discipline  be  led  so  to  develop  and 
employ  his  physical,  intellectual,  moral,  and  spirit- 
ual capabilities  as  to  enjoy  to  the  utmost  what  they 
are  able  to  contribute  to  the  wealth,  beauty,  power, 
and  glory  of  existence.  This  is  what  perfect  love 
as  defined  and  applied  is  designed  and  calculated 
to  effect,  and  neither  man,  angel,  Christ,  or  God 
himself,  can  produce  that  sublime  effect  in  any 
other  way. 

But  it  may  be  objected  that  perfect  love  in  God 
allows  if  it  does  not  prompt  Him  to  inflict  innu- 
merable terrible  penalties  and  sufferings  upon  His 
guilty  offspring  and  even  to  kill  them,  and  why  may 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  169 

not  we  do  the  same  under  the  same  inspiration. 
Such  objection  is  purely  sophistical  and  misleading. 
The  cases  are  not  parallel.  We  cannot  imitate  our 
infinite  heavenly  Father  in  the  exercise  of  powers 
absolutely  above  our  finite  capacities,  but  only  of 
those  that  lie  within  the  sphere  of  our  limited  abil- 
ity. ''He  can  kill  and  make  alive."  We  cannot. 
He  can,  in  His  vast  designs,  cause  the  direst  dis- 
tresses to  come  upon  His  earthly  children  and  turn 
them  all  to  the  most  salutary  account,  if  not  in  this 
life,  in  that  which  is  to  come.  We  have  no  power 
to  produce  restorative,  reparatory,  or  sanctifying 
results  in  another  state  of  being,  nor  even  here 
beyond  certain  boundaries.  Eternity  as  well  as  time 
is  His  field  of  activity,  and  His  plans  reach  to  issues 
far  beyond  the  sphere  of  our  responsibility.  There- 
fore the  assumed  analogy  between  Him  and  us,  so 
far  as  pertains  to  His  larger  purposes  and  opera- 
tions, does  not  exist.  Had  we  God's  unlimited 
power  and  wisdom,  wherewith  to  govern  affairs  in 
all  possible  states  of  being,  and  were  we  able  to 
direct  all  possible  consequences  of  our  personal 
action  as  He  is,  we  might  then  inflict  pain  and 
take  life  as  He  does.  But,  as  it  is,  we  may  and 
ought  to  act  on  the  same  principle  and  in  the  same 
spirit  that  He  does  only  in  the  finite  sphere  which 
we  by  our  very  nature  are  privileged  to  occupy. 
Accordingly  we  must  never  presume  to  impose  any 
privation,  pain,  or  loss,  even  on  the  most  guilty, 
which  we  have  no  power  to  render  salutary  and 
beneficent.  But  who  ever  kills  or  causes  sufferine: 
to    a    fellow-being    in     order    to     better     his    con- 


170  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

dition  after  death  ?  It  is  absurd  to  suppose  such 
a    case. 

But  another  consideration  here  intervenes.  In 
the  order  of  His  providence,  God  takes  the  life 
not  only  of  sinners,  but  of  saints  and  of  multitudes 
of  innocent  children  ;  so  may  we,  if  the  objector's 
reasoning  be  sound.  If  He  can  do  it  in  love,  why 
cannot  we?  Or  again.  God  as  the  supreme  Ruler 
of  all  things  kills  every  human  being,  sooner  or 
later,  why  may  not  we  kill  any  one  we  please  ? 
The  argument  proves  too  much  ;  admits  of  conclu- 
sions at  which  every  one's  reason  and  moral  sense 
revolt,  and  so  destroys  itself.  The  truth  is,  death, 
or  the  passing  from  this  to  a  future  life,  is  a  fea- 
ture of  an  infinite  divine  plan,  and  in  whatever  form 
it  comes,  by  natural  decay,  by  sickness,  or  by  casu- 
alty, it  is  included  in  that  plan  and  is  to  be  justi- 
fied, as  its  Author  is  to  be  vindicated,  in  the  finally 
beneficent  and  happy  issue,  which  is  at  last  to 
crown  the  working  of  that  plan  and  fill  the  uni- 
verse with   holiness  and  joy. 

A  much  more  plausible  argument  against  the 
claim  I  make  for  the  universal  exercise  and  appli- 
cation of  the  spirit  of  perfect  love,  even  to  enemies 
and  persistent  evil  doers,  is  that  which  afifirms  that 
we  can  sometimes  save  life,  liberty,  property,  or 
otherwise  serve  the  common  welfare,  by  taking 
life  —  by  the  capital  punishment  of  hardened  crimi- 
nals, by  the  destruction  of  enemies  in  war,  or  in 
some  way  causing  harm  to  offenders,  without  regard 
to  their  particular  well-being  and  happiness.  This  is 
the  plea  of  expediency,  and  is  based  upon  the  doctrine 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  171 

that  we  may  do  evil  to  insure  consequent  good.  I  can- 
not well  deny  this,  as  the  world  goes,  at  least  in 
some  cases,  and  yet  I  have  very  little  doubt,  that 
on  the  whole  far  more  of  life,  liberty,  and  property 
has  been  sacrificed  than  preserved  by  what  is 
termed  justificable  homicide,  —  injurious  self-de- 
fence, war,  and  vindictive  punishment  —  in  the 
history  of  mankind.  But  granting  the  validity  of 
the  argument  on  the  basis  of  worldly  expediency  or 
advantage,  does  that  make  the  required  exercise  of 
perfect  love  less  reasonable  or  obligatory  than  I 
contend  for  ?  Is  everything  right  and  best  for  man- 
kind which  is  convenient  and  advantageous  to  all 
appearance  in  this  short  life  .^  If  so,  are  not  injus- 
tice, falsehood,  and  many  notorious  cruelties  right 
and  best  when  important  ends  are  to  be  gained 
thereby  ^  Rather  is  it  not  better  and  more  Christ- 
like to  give  up  our  life,  liberty,  property,  than  to 
be  base  and  iniquitous  ?  Common  worldly  patriot- 
ism says  this  ;  how  much  more  religion,  and  espe- 
cially Christ's  religion,  which  teaches  its  disciples 
to  surrender  their  lives  and  all  temporal  goods 
rather  than  betray  their  principles  and  lose  their 
souls  in  the  just  condemnation  of  eternal  verities. 

Besides,  let  us  remember  that  pure  Christianity 
regards  the  human  race  as  having  been  created  for 
progress  from  very  low  to  very  high  moral  and 
spiritual  conditions  by  a  process  of  discipline  and 
regeneration  which  should  ultimate  in  that  perfect 
love  which  is  the  grandest  attainment  of  immortal 
beings,  which  makes  man  most  like  the  all-perfect 
Father  in    heaven.     Could   such    a    religion    reason- 


172  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

ably  propose  anything  lower  than  this,  or  enjoin 
anything  less  as  the  siimmiLin  boimm  of  human  duty 
or  the  crowning  glory  of  its  mortality  ?  Certainly 
not  ;  for  had  it  done  so  we  should  have  some  day 
needed  a  new  and  nobler  dispensation  to  have  per- 
fected the  righteousness  of  mankind.  As  it  is, 
another  dispensation  or  revelation  of  a  distinctively 
higher,  more  perfect  character  is  neither  necessary 
nor  possible.  And  if  this  supreme  virtue  with  the 
manifold  duties  growing  out  of  it  is  too  transcend- 
ent for  human  beings  to  exemplify  to  any  great 
extent  in  the  present  age  of  the  world,  ought  we 
therefore  to  deem  it  the  less  reasonable,  or  the  less 
profitable  to  preach,  or  the  less  incumbent  on  men 
to  endeavor  to  practice,  or  the  less  to  be  demanded 
of  those  who  profess  to  be  members  of  Christ's 
church  and  upon  whom,  as  pioneers  under  him  of 
human  regeneration,  he  originally  and  specifically 
enjoined  it  ?  Surely  not.  Alas,  what  a  blot  it  is 
upon  a  church  bearing  the  name  of  Christ,  that  so 
small  a  fraction  of  its  members  are  obedient  to  the 
requirements  of  perfect  love,  or  are  ready  to  acknowl- 
edge their  obligations  to  obey  them. 

But  I  forbear  a  farther  exposition  of  this  incom- 
parable subject.  A  thousand  discourses  would  not 
exhaust  it,  especially  in  its  multiform  applications 
to  human  character  and  conduct  in  the  various 
relations  of  life.  I  close  what  I  have  to  say  by 
commending  the  considerations  presented  to  your 
candid,  rational,  conscientious  judgment;  praying, 
as  the  best  of  all  petitions  for  you  and  myself,  that 
we  may  never  rest   in   the  great  struggle  after  holi- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  173^ 

ness  and  happiness,  till,  with  the  help  of  God's  grace 
and  of  all  spiritual  ministries,  we  shall  have  above 
all  other  things  **  put  on  charity  (love)  which  is  the 
bond  of   perfectness." 


DISCOURSE   XIII. 

ox   THE   PRIMITIVE   CHEISTIAN   VIBTUE    OF 
NON-RE  SIS  TA  NCE. 

•'Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  An  eye  for  au  eye, 
and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth.  But  I  say  unto  you,  That  ye  resist 
not  evil  [in  this  manner];  but  whosoever  smiteth  thee  on  the 
right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also.  And  if  any  man  will 
sue  thee  at  the  law  and  take  away  thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy 
cloak  also."  —  Matt.  v.  38-40. 

Having  in  my  last  discourse  discussed  the  subject 
of  perfect  love  as  the  supreme  virtue  of  Primitive 
Christianity  enjoined  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  I 
now  proceed  to  a  consideration  of  the  legitimate 
manifestation  of  that  virtue  and  of  the  application 
of  the  moral  principle  involved  therein,  in  certain 
extreme  cases  of  human  experience  where  there  is 
great  temptation  to  ignore  or  abandon  it.  What 
those  extreme  cases  are,  or  the  more  common  ones, 
it  is  my  duty  to  point  out  with  all  needful  distinct- 
ness and  perspicuity.  They  may  be  in  a  general 
way  considered  under  a  twofold  classification,  to 
wit: — (i)  To  resist  and  punish  personal  outrage 
upon  ourselves  or  our  friends  by  injurious  or  deadly 
force  administered  by  our  own  hands.  (2)  To 
resort  for  defence,  reparation,  and  punishment  to 
governmental  interposition  and  coercion  by  the  use 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY.  176 

of  the  same  injurious  and  deadly  force  administered 
by  so-called  magistrates  or  officers  of  the  law.  All 
harmful  or  injurious  force  is  of  the  same  intrinsic 
nature  as  deadly  force,  and  I  treat  them  as  the 
same  in  principle  and  as  equally  hostile  to  that 
perfect  "love  which  worketh  no  ill."  Instances  of 
the  two  kinds  specified  have  always  occurred  in 
human  affairs  and  will  occasionally  occur  until  men 
shall  have  learned  to  overcome  evil  with  good,  or 
wrong-doers  cease  "  to  molest  and  make  afraid." 
When  they  take  place  and  call  for  correlative  action 
of  some  sort  on  our  part,  they  tempt  our  lower, 
animal  nature  powerfully,  inciting  us  to  resist 
punish,  and,  if  possible,  bring  the  offenders  to 
subjection  by  actual  or  threatened  violence  and 
death-dealing  power.  There  is  nothing  at  which 
un regenerate  and  spiritually  undisciplined  human 
beings  so  revolt  as  at  the  doctrine  that  they  must 
not  fight  with  some  sort  of  carnal  weapons  in 
defence  of  themselves  or  their  friends  ;  in  support 
of  liberty  and  human  rights  ;  and  that  they  must 
not  fall  back  upon  organized  governmental  agencies 
backed  by  the  strong  arm  and  weapons  of  carnal 
warfare  for  the  resistance,  punishment,  and  subju- 
gation of  evil-doing  men.  All  the  religions  of  the 
world  except  that  of  Christ  allow,  sanction,  and 
fully  justify  such  conduct  —  conduct  involving  physi- 
cal violence,  injury,  and  death.  So  do  all  the  ethical 
systems  that  have  gained  much  acceptance  in  the 
world  ;  so  do  all  prevailing  codes  of  law  and  juris- 
prudence. And  so,  indeed,  do  all  popular  notions 
of  honor,  valor,  and   manly  self-defence.     Hence   it 


176  PKIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

is  that  so  very  few  people  can  be  found,  even  in 
Christendom,  to  accept  the  doctrine  of  Christian 
Non-resistance.  And  of  the  few  who  professedly 
acknowledge  its  truth  in  theory,  a  majority,  I  am 
grieved  to  say,  fail  to  honor  it  and  commend  it  to 
the  world  by  consistent  and  uncompromising  exam- 
ple in  practical  life.  Nevertheless,  it  is  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  and  was  the  doctrine  of 
the  Church  for  at  least  two  hundred  years  —  a  doc- 
trine which  its  members  faithfully  illustrated  in  their 
relations  to  and  dealings  with  each  other  and  their 
heathen  fellow-men. 

Had  Christ  relaxed  his  stringent  morality  in  its 
application  to  such  extreme  cases  as  I  have  named, 
and  allowed  his  disciples  to  kill,  wound,  or  other- 
wise absolutely  harm  offenders  of  a  flagrant  type, 
either  directly  by  their  own  hands  or  through  the 
agencies  of  worldly  civil  government,  what  would 
have  been  the  inevitable  effect  ?  ( i  )  To  invalidate 
fatally  the  fundamental  requirement  of  his  religion 
to  exercise  perfect  love  towards  all  human  beings, 
as  set  forth  in  my  last  discourse.  For  the  excep- 
tions   would    have    made    the    rule    null    and    void. 

(2)  To  undermine  or  greatly  vitiate  the  sublime 
ideas  which  are  the  bases  of  that  requirement,  to 
wit:  The  Fatherhood  of  God,  the  brotherhood  of 
man,  the  harmony  of  all  real  human  interests,  and 
the  destined  holiness  and  happiness  of  all  mankind. 

(3)  To  endorse  the  carnal  wisdom  of  this  world 
which  is  forever  pleading  that  there  are  numerous 
cases  of  conflicting  interests  in  human  affairs  that 
render  it  impossible  and  foolish   for  us  to   love  our 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS. 


177 


neighbors  as  ourselves,  or  to  regard  their  welfare 
as  our  own.  (4)  To  reduce  the  supreme  excellency 
of  Christian  morality  to  a  level  with  that  of  all 
other  religions  and  philosophies,  and  so  destroy  its 
distinctive  character.  (5)  To  justify  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  cruel  homicides,  persecutions,  wars,  and 
vindictive  punishments  which  a  degenerate  church 
has  sanctioned  and  sanctified  since  its  unholy  alli- 
ance with  the  state  under  Constantine  in  the  fourth 
century.  Were  I  fairly  and  fully  convinced  that 
this  doctrine  of  Non-resistance  is  false,  or  was  not 
taught  and  exemplified  by  Christ,  my  sense  of  logi- 
cal and  moral  consistency  would  compel  me  to 
abandon  the  whole  superstructure  of  my  peculiar 
theology,  ethics,  and  social  reform.  Nor  should  I 
have  one  unshaken  hope  left  that  the  human  race 
will  attain  any  essentially  higher  moral  state,  here 
on  the  earth  at  least,  than  the  general  average  of 
the  past.  This  may  sound  like  a  wail  of  despair 
or  the  wild  extravagance  of  thoughtless  declamation, 
but  it  is  to  me  a  well-considered,  sober  conclusion 
of  my  best  judgment.  And  whoever  would  listen 
candidly  to  my  reasons  for  this  opinion  must  feel, 
I  am  sure,  that  they  can  not  be  easily  confuted. 
Many  people  otherwise  worthy  of  respect  and  con- 
fidence seem  to  care  very  little  for  consistency  in 
faith  or  practice,  and  learned  philosophers  some- 
times affect  to  despise  it  as  a  slavish  weakness  of 
stinted  minds.  But  I  am  not  ashamed  to  avow 
myself  a  devotee  of  rational  and  moral  consistency. 
I  abominate  all  detectable  incongruities  between 
the    several    articles    of    one's    creed,    or    different 


178  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

avowed  principles  of  truth  and  duty,  as  I  do 
between  his  acknowledged  belief  or  principles  and 
his  deliberate  practice.  If  he  professes  faith  in  the 
universal  Fatherhood  of  God,  in  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  man,  in  the  absolute  moral  obliga- 
tion of  the  golden  rule  and  law  of  love,  in  the  idea 
that  the  highest  good  of  each  and  all  is  the  same, 
and  in  the  immortal  nature  and  destiny  of  all  men  ; 
if  such  be  his  professed  faith,  I  insist  that  he  shall 
not  represent  God  as  a  vindictive  despot,  or  man 
as  a  venomous  reptile,  even  when  he  acts  like  one  ; 
as  fit  only  under  certain  circumstances,  to  be 
despised,  maltreated,  slaughtered,  and,  as  far  as 
possible,  utterly  destroyed.  I  will  not  knowingly 
indulge  myself  in  any  of  these  theoretical  or  prac- 
tical incongruities  and  contradictions.  This  is  why 
I  say  so  emphatically,  that,  if  compelled  to  give 
up  the  doctrine  of  primitive  Christian  Non-resistance, 
my  sense  of  consistency  would  compel  me  to  aban- 
don my  whole  system  of  theology,  ethics,  and  soci- 
ology, with  all  its  grand  hopes  and  promises  for 
mankind.  Happily,  I  am  troubled  with  no  such 
doubts  or  misgivings,  and  so  am  steadfast  in  my 
confessed  system  of  truth  and  duty.  But  there  are 
some  misapprehensions  respecting  this  special  doc- 
trine of  Non-resistance,  which  ought  to  be  cleared 
away  in  order  to  its  just  appreciation. 

I.  Some  people  understand  that  Christ  addressed 
the  precepts  which  enjoin  this  self-denying  virtue  to 
all  mankind  indiscriminately,  in  all  conditions  and 
relations  of  life,  and  at  all  stashes  of  moral  and 
spiritual    development ;    as    if    all    could    and    would 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  179 

exemplify  it,  or  try  to  exemplify  it,  as  one  of  the 
primary  duties  of  common  worldly  morality.  They 
make  the  same  mistake  respecting  the  requirement 
of  perfect  love  to  all  mankind,  friend  and  foe,  of 
which  these  precepts  but  indicate  the  legitimate 
application.  But  Christ  was  wiser  than  this  mis- 
apprehension supposes.  "  He  knew  what  was  in 
man."  He  knew  very  well  that  the  administrators 
of  existing  civil  oovernment  would  not  and  could 
not  obey  the  law  of  perfect  love,  or  exemplify  the 
specific  duty  springing  from  it,  until  society,  in  its 
organic  form,  should  outgrow  and  abandon  all 
dernier  resorts  to  deadly  force.  He  knew  that  no 
one  could  or  would  live  in  love  with  all  mankind, 
bless  and  curse  not,  and  perform  all  similar  duties, 
so  long  as  selfishness,  greed  of  gain,  resentment  of 
injuries,  revenge,  and  cruelty  reigned  in  his  heart. 
He  knew  that  no  man  or  class  of  men,  acting  in, 
depending  on,  or  needing  the  restraint  of  sword- 
sustained  governments,  would  or  could  practice  the 
golden  rule  and  the  doctrine  of  no  harmful  resist- 
ance of  evil  with  evil.  Such  persons  and  classes 
belong  to  a  moral  plane  far  below  that  occupied  by 
Christ — far  below  that  which  he  called  his  disci- 
ples to  occupy.  He  told  such  plainly  that  they 
could  not  rise  to  his  required  level  except  they  were 
born  again  of  the  divine  spirit,  becoming  as  little 
children  and  taking  up  the  cross  daily.  Of  those 
thus  re-born,  he  said,  ''They  are  not  of  the  world 
even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world."  And  to  them, 
"  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth."  "Ye  are  the  light 
of  the  world."     James  thus  states  the  case  from  his 


180  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

point  of  view  ;  "  Of  his  own  will  begat  he  us  with 
the  word  of  truth,  that  we  should  be  a  kind  of  first 
fruits  of  his  creatures." — James  i.    i8. 

It  was  those  here  represented  who  became  the 
original  disciples  of  Christ.  They  publicly  con- 
fessed themselves  to  be  his  followers.  They  con- 
stituted the  primitive  church  bearing  his  name, 
which  was  a  divinely  appointed  though  voluntary 
association  regulated  and  governed,  not,  like  worldly 
civil  society,  by  arbitrary,  external  authority  and 
brute  force,  but  by  the  principles,  precepts,  and 
spirit  declared  by  Christ  himself,  their  teacher 
and  religious  head.  The  high  calling  of  this  church 
was  to  stand  morally  at  the  front  of  the  procession 
of  humanity,  to  lead  it  on  to  a  truer  righteousness, 
to  leaven  it  with  regenerating  influences,  to  salt  it 
with  divine  principles,  to  show  it  '*a  more  excellent 
way,"  and  so  gradually  convert  it  to  pure  Chris- 
tianity and  thereby  bring  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Christ  therefore  addressed  his  sublimest  precepts 
more  particularly  to  his  avowed  followers.  He 
called  them  emphatically  to  the  exemplification  of 
his  own  distinctive  righteousness.  This  was  his 
only  way  of  salvation  from  the  evils  of  sin.  He 
earnestly  besought  all  to  become  his  disciples  and 
counted  all  such  who  from  inward  conviction  and 
love  were  willing  to  take  up  their  cross  and  follow 
him.  But  he  coerced  none.  He  over-urged  none. 
He  used  neither  violence  nor  craftiness  to  make 
proselytes.  He  flattered  no  one  with  prospects  of 
worldly  ease,  advantage,  or  honor.  He  frankly  set 
forth  the  responsibilities,  the  trials,  and  difficulties 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  181 

they  would  encounter  if  they  followed  him,  and 
declared  that  the  blessings  to  be  gained  thereby 
were  of  a  spiritual,  heavenly  nature,  not  carnal, 
earthly  ones.  No  one  was  asked  to  join  his  ranks 
except  from  purely  religious  motives  and  for  the 
highest  ends.  But  of  those  who  did  join  them  he 
demanded  fidelity,  a  corresponding  life,  self-sacrifice 
even  to  martyrdom  should  fidelity  to  his  precepts 
and  principles  demand  it. 

And  all  this  is  true  today.  No  one  is  required 
to  confess  Christ  as  Master  and  Lord  unless  he 
can  do  so  in  all  sincerity,  upon  the  terms  plainly 
set  forth  in  the  Gospels.  Nor  is  any  one  declining 
to  do  this  and  choosing  to  act  on  a  lower  moral 
plane  denied  due  credit  for  whatever  virtues  he  may 
possess,  though  they  be  not  up  to  the  standard  of 
perfect  love.  But  to  those  who  voluntarily  assume 
the  position  of  disciples  of  Christ,  yet  revolt  against 
his  lofty  morality  and  refuse  to  practice  his  pre- 
cepts, his  rebuke  still  sounds  forth  ;  *'  Why  call  ye 
nie  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I 
say .''"  What  can  be  more  reasonable  than  this,  or 
appeal  more  impressively  to  our  highest  moral  and 
religious  sentiments  ? 

Why  then  should  any  cry  out  that  Christ's 
morality  is  too  high  and  strict  for  the  world,  when 
it  was  never  meant  for  worldly-minded  people  ;  that 
civil  society  is  not  prepared  for  it,  as  if  it  was  ever 
intended  for  unchistianized  civilians ;  that  we  can 
not  carry  on  government,  politics,  commerce,  war, 
etc,  on  Christian  principles,  as  if  the  Master 
ex[)ccted  we  could  while  enslaved    to   the    customs, 


182  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

fashions,  and  popular  practices  of  the  unregenerate 
world  !     It    is    indeed    impossible    for   those    to    act 
upon   Christian    principles  who    have  no  conception 
of  such  principles,  no  aspiration  to  be  governed  by 
them,  and  no  purpose  or  hope  that  they  themselves 
or  others  shall    live  according  to  them  this  side  of 
the  grave.     But  must  this  be  deemed  true  in  regard 
to    sincere    believers    in    Christ ;    such    as    he    pre- 
scribed his  holy  precepts  for;  those  who  are  really 
born  of  the  Spirit  and  are  in  the  true  discipleship 
of  Jesus  ?    God  forbid  !     Their    ruling   faith,  aspira- 
tion, hope,  must  be  of  a  far  higher  type  and  order. 
On    the    other    hand    there    are    professed    non- 
resistants  and  friends  of  peace  just  as  unreasonable 
as  those  referred  to  who  make  no  such  profession. 
They  assume  that  the  indiscriminate  multitude  can 
be    brought  to    practice    that  "love  which  worketh 
no  ill  "  as  easily  as  they  can  be  induced  to  espouse 
the    Temperance,    Anti-Slavery,    Woman's     Rights, 
and    other   secular    moral    reforms.      More    absurdly 
still,   they    call    on    civil    governments,    legislatures, 
and  all    kinds  of    milito-political    authorities,  to    act 
on  the  highest  principles    of    peace    and    good  will, 
as  if   it  were  as  possible  for  them  to  do  this  as  it 
is  to  act  on  their  own  lower  plane  of  worldly  policy 
and  reserved  injurious,   death-dealing  force.     In  the 
very  nature  of  things  they  cannot  do  this  without  a 
prior  radical    regeneration   of    human  opinions,  feel- 
ings, customs,  and    institutions  ;    a   regeneration    to 
be  attained  only  through  a  long  process  of  enlight- 
enment, moral    growth,   and    spiritual    development. 
This    gross    absurdity   exhibits    itself    to    an    almost 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  183 

ridiculous  extent  when  in  the  midst  of  great  wars, 
governments  and  military  authorities  are  appealed 
to  in  deprecatory  tones,  to  stop  the  tornado  of 
deadly  violence  at  once,  *' beat  their  swords  into 
ploughshares,"  and  inaugurate  the  reign  of  brother 
hood  and  peace.  The  result  proposed  in  such  a 
case  is  grandly  good,  but  the  assumption  that  it  is 
possible  under  the  circumstances  is  pitifully  puerile 
if  not  ludicrous.  Christ  never  contemplated  any 
such  instantaneous,  wholesale,  impracticable  method 
of  converting  the  world  from  its  harm-plotting,  war- 
promoting,  death-dealing  spirit  and  habit  to  the  love 
and  practice  of  kindliness,  fraternity,  harmony.  He 
began  to  build  his  moral  superstructure  at  the 
foundation,  in  the  renewing  of  individual  characters 
and  lives,  by  the  power  of  the  spirit  of  peace  and 
love  and  not  at  the  apex.     So  should  we. 

2.  Another  misapprehension  of  non-resistant  pre- 
cepts is  that  arising  from  emphasizing  the  mere 
letter  of  them  instead  of  their  vital  principle  and 
spirit.  Thus  we  must  understand  them  to  require, 
when  one  cheek  is  smitten,  the  actual  offering  of 
the  other,  as  if  to  invite  the  assailant  to  smite  that 
also ;  and  when  one  article  of  clothing  is  taken 
unjustly  from  us  we  should  immediately  give  up 
another  to  the  aggressor.  A  little  reflection,  aided 
by  the  example  of  Christ,  shows  us  that  the  pas- 
sages referred  to  represent  the  principle  and  spirit 
which  are  to  govern  us  in  cases  of  insult,  outrage, 
and  injustice,  however  inflicted  ;  that  is,  of  patient 
endurance  of  the  wrong  done  us,  though  repeated, 
without  resorting  to  the  old  law  of   retaliation,  ''  An 


184  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

eye  for  an  eye,  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  wounding  for 
wounding,  and  life  for  life."  The  meaning  of  the 
old  ordinance  abrogated  by  Christ  is  plain,  to  wit: 
that  we  may  rightfully  harm  others,  defensively  or 
punitively,  to  the  extent  that  they  harm  or  attempt 
to  harm  us.  This  rule  of  conduct  Christ  absolutely 
forbids.  His  disciples  must  not  resist  in  any  such 
way.  They  must  not  retaliate  or  do  harm  to  any 
one,  whatsoever  the  provocation  or  temptation  to 
such  action  may  be.  By  that  inhibition  his  disci- 
ples are  bound  to  order  their  lives. 

Others  still  see  or  think  they  see  in  these  same 
precepts  an  injunction  requiring  entire  moral  and 
physical  passivity  towards  evil  doers,  under  all  cir- 
cumstances. We  are  not  even  to  reprove,  rebuke, 
remonstrate  with  such,  or  protest  against  their  con- 
duct, or  oppose  them  in  any  way.  No  such  infer- 
ence can  be  drawn  from  the  passages  themselves, 
and  it  is  disproved  by  their  author's  whole  life  and 
example.  They  do  not  prohibit  the  use  of  physical 
force,  if  it  be  uninjurious  and  beneficent ;  if  it  take 
the  form  of  insistence,  compulsion,  or  restraint  that 
is  calculated  to  prevent  harm  to  the  evil-disposed 
or  others,  or  to  benefit  all  concerned,  according  to 
the  law  of  perfect  love.  It  is  the  spirit  of  the 
requirement  that  is  to  govern  in  all  cases  and  of 
that  there  need   be  no  misapprehension. 

3.  Still  others  there  are  who  maintain  that  the 
particular  texts  under  review  inculcate  cowardice, 
meanness,  and  unmanly  submission  to  all  sorts  of 
insult  and  aggression  ;  nay,  more,  that  they  encour- 
age insolence,  injustice,  and   personal  violence  ;  and 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  185 

SO  they  scorn  and  reject  them  and  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  ethics  of  which  they  and  corresponding 
scriptures  form  no  inconsiderable  part.  This  I 
count  a  reckless  perversion  of  the  truth.  Do  such 
passages  as  forbid  the  resistance  of  evil  with  deadly 
or  harmful  force  imply  that  such  evil  is  not  wrong, 
is  not  to  be  exposed  and  rebuked ;  or  that  those 
committing  it  are  to  be  excused,  absolved  from  all 
blame,  and  treated  as  if  they  had  committed  no 
offence  against  God  and  man,  or  that  they  are  in 
no  proper  sense  the  subjects  of  salutary  and  con- 
dign chastisement  and  retribution  ?  Not  at  all. 
Did  Christ  ever  forbid,  by  precept  or  example,  the 
just  rebuke,  condemnation,  and  denunciation  of  any 
kind  of  wickedness  by  whomsoever  wrought  ^  On 
the  other  hand,  he  taught  and  practiced  quite  the 
contrary.  Witness  the  admonition  and  censure  he 
repeatedly  administered,  even  to  his  disciples,  and 
the  reprobation  with  which  he  castigated  at  differ- 
ent times  the  Scribes,  Pharisees,  and  hypocrites  of 
his  day.  Did  he  himself  ever  cower  or  cringe  in 
the  presence  of  danger  or  hostile  power,  ever  shrink 
from  duty,  ever  show  timidity  or  fear,  ever  act  an 
unmanly  part  in  any  portion  or  circumstance  of  his 
earthly  career  .'^  Never.  Did  he  ever  counsel  his 
followers  to  tremble  before  wicked,  haughty,  malig. 
nant  men,  to  basely  abandon  the  post  of  duty,  to 
abstain  from  proclaiming  the  truth  and  maintaining 
the  standard  of  righteousness,  even  in  the  face  of 
persecution  and  death  ?  Far  from  it.  He  rather 
taught  them  to  be  brave  and  dauntless  in  battling 
for  the  good  and  true,  to  adhere  to  their  principles 


186  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

and  bear  their  testimonies  at  all  hazards,  to  prose- 
cute their  work  amid  perils  and  hardships  and  hos- 
tile opponents  in  a  self-sacrificing  spirit,  even  unto 
martyrdom.  Is  there  anything  mean,  base,  ignoble, 
unmanly,  in  all  this  ?  A  brutish  carnalist  might 
say,  "yes,  under  extreme  circumstances;  if  life  or 
great  interests  were  at  stake  and  might  be  saved 
or  preserved  by  slaying  a  murderous  assailant  or  a 
cruel  tyrant."  But  I  say,  nay.  It  is  noble,  heroic, 
Christlike  to  suffer  wrongfully  rather  than  do  wrong, 
to  forfeit  life  rather  than  take  life,  to  confront  death 
with  none  but  spiritual  weapons  and  God's  shelter- 
ing help  for  a  defence,  to  say  fearlessly  to  an 
assaulting  persecutor,  oppressor,  would-be  murderer, 
"You  are  my  brother-man,  child  like  myself  of  a 
heavenly  Father,  and  I  can  do  you  no  harm,  much 
less  take  your  life.  Will  you  murder  me  or  those 
that  are  dear  to  me  ?  Will  you  stain  your  own  soul 
with  the  innocent  blood  of  one  of  your  friends,  who 
wishes  you  no  evil,  who  is  ready  to  die  rather  than 
injure  you.^"  Is  such  fidelity  to  principle,  such 
devotion  to  humanity,  such  loyalty  to  Christ  cow- 
ardly, inglorious,  contemptible?  Palsied  be  the 
tongue  that  dare  utter  such  a  slander ! 

But  it  is  furthermore  supposed  and  sometimes 
urged  that  this  Christian  doctrine  of  perfect  love 
carried  to  this  extreme  —  the  doctrine  of  Non-resist- 
ance—  offers  encouragement  —  a  bounty,  indeed,  to 
robbers,  assassins,  and  all  sorts  of  aggressors  upon 
the  lives  and  rights  of  the  innocent  and  worthy,  by 
removing  the  fear  on  the  part  of  such  of  being  stricken 
down  and    put  to  death.     To  spare  such    and    hold 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  187 

their  welfare  sacred  and  inviolable  is  to  stimulate 
their  baser  nature  and  promote  their  wicked  designs. 
This  is  an  assumption  incapable  of  proof.  In  a  large 
majority  of  cases,  as  history  prov^es,  the  resort  to 
deadly  force  is  a  failure  as  a  preventive  of  vice 
and  crime,  and  never  converts  the  evil  doer  or 
saves  a  human  soul.  Nay,  such  resort  and  its  mani- 
fold concomitants  tend  to  keep  alive  the  spirit  of 
violence  in  the  world  and  to  multiply  rather  than 
decrease  the  vices  and  crimes  that  afflict  and  debase 
humanity  and  retard  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of 
righteousness,  brotherhood,  and  peace.  Satan  can 
not  cast  out  Satan.  Only  Christ  and  his  Gospel 
can  do  that.  In  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred, 
such  morally  heroic,  self-forgetting  goodness  as  I 
have  indicated — the  Christlike  spirit  and  attitude  — 
would  humble,  disarm,  and  overcome  the  assailant 
and  often  open  the  way  to  his  reformation.  It  has 
done  it  in  manifold  instances  and  would  do  it  in 
manifold  more,  if  tried  in  confidence  and  holy  love. 
Oh,  that  professed  Christians  would  universally  adopt 
and  trust  the  Saviour's  method  of  overcoming  evil 
with  good,  of  dealing  with  offenders,  of  reforming 
the  vicious,  of  saving  the  lost !  Only  let  unflinching 
courage  and  pure  benevolence  be  united  and  coop- 
erate earnestly  with  each  other  under  the  divine 
guidance  and  they  constitute  the  mightiest,  the 
most  quickening,  regenerating  power  in  the  universe. 
Should  they  ever  fail  to  touch  the  heart  and  restrain 
the  hand  of  an  assailant  and  the  martyrdom  of  the 
victim  ensue,  their  ultimate  moral  victory,  in  the 
spirit    world,   if   not    on    earth,   would    be    the    more 


188  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY. 

triumphant  and  glorious.  Nay,  I  can  but  believe 
that  the  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  in  such  cases 
displayed  would  increase  the  sum  of  human  virtue 
here,  and  promote  the  spiritual  progress  and  ulti- 
mate redemption  of  humanity  in  time  as  well  as  in 
eternity. 

O  heaven-sent  Teacher,  thou  '-hght  of  the  world," 
"  The  way  and  the  truth  and  the  life  '" :  — 

Thy  banner  of  love  long  ago  was  unfurled, 
Rebuking  all  carnage  and  strife. 

Thy  church  thou  didst  found  on  the  earth  to  protest, 

By  precept  and  practice  like  thine, 
Against  every  death-dealing,  vengeful  behest 

Long  sanctioned  as  wise  and  divine. 

"  Resist  not  with  evil  the  insurer's  hand. 

But  rather  his  wrongs  meekly  bear ; 
By  goodness  and  mercy  his  vices  withstand. 

And  still  for  his  happiness  care." 

Thus  spake  thou,  dear  Lord,  from  the  mount  and  the  cross. 

And  taught  us  as  one  from  above ; 
O  help  us,  we  pray  thee,  whatever  the  loss. 

To  walk  in  thy  pathway  of  love. 


DISCOURSE    XIV. 

CHRISTIAN  MORALITY  AND    CIVIL    CWVERNMENT. 

"  Render  unto  Ciesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  to 
God  the  things  that  are  God's."  —  Mar/c  x\\.  17. 

"My  kingdom  is  not  of  the  world." — /^//;/ xviii.  36. 

"  The  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God.  Whosoever  there- 
fore resisteth  the  power,  resisteth  the  ordinance  of  God."  — 
Ro7n.  xiii.   i,  2. 

"We  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  man."  —  Acts  v.  29. 

I  could  not  do  full  justice  to  the  primitive  Chris- 
tian doctrine  of  Non-resistance  as  I  understand  it 
without  stating  and  explaining  the  relation  in  which 
it  places  those  who  embrace  it  to  civil  government. 
To  clearly  comprehend  that  relation  we  must  begin 
its  exposition  at  the  the  very  foundation  of  human 
nature,  and  of  organized  human  society  with  its 
various  institutions.  What  is  generically  and  abso- 
lutely natural  cannot  be  annihilated  or  wholly  sup- 
pressed by  any  finite  power.  But  much  that  is  thus 
natural  can  be  varied  and  modified  as  to  its  form 
and  expression  almost  to  infinity.  Again,  whatever 
is  generically  and  absolutely  natural  must  manifest 
itself,  act  itself  out,  to  some  extent,  somehow,  some- 
where, sometime.  But  the  degree,  manner,  place, _ 
and  time  of  its  manifestation  can  be,  as  indicated, . 
indefinitely  diversified,  by  reason  of  the  different 
conditions  and   circumstances   under  which   it    takes- 


190  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

place.  Now  let  us  apply  these  general  truths  to  the 
original  constitution  of  man,  to  human  society,  and 
to  organized  institutions.  First,  there  is  the  individ- 
ual human  being, —  body,  soul,  and  spirit, —  male  and 
female.  The  male  can  by  no  possibility  be  made 
female  nor  the  female  be  made  male,  however  alike 
they  may  be  rendered  in  many  respects.  There  is 
probably  an  intrinsic  distinction  between  the  two 
which  will  last  as  long  as  they  have  being.  So  of 
individuality.  There  is  something  generically  and 
absolutely  peculiar  in  one  person  which  renders  him 
or  her  a  distinct  entity,  separate  from  another  and  from 
all  others.  No  two  are  exactly  alike.  They  may  be 
very  much  alike,  in  some  cases  almost  indistinguish- 
able; yet  are  they  not  the  same  but  different 
individuals.  They  always  will  be  so  as  long  as  they 
exist  ;  it   is  in  their  very  nature. 

We  look  again  and  find  that  all  human  beings, 
male  or  female,  have  by  nature  certain  appetites, 
propensities,  passions,  sentiments,  faculties,  which 
are  the  springs  of  all  action  and  the  counterchecks 
of  each  other.  They  are  not  equally  powerful  in 
all,  yet  they  exist  in  all,  active  or  inactive,  in  vary- 
ing degrees  of  excitability.  There  they  are,  and 
they  cannot  be  utterly  extinguished  without  extin- 
guishing the  being  itself.  And  they  ought  not  to 
be  extinguished,   only  modified,  regulated,  perfected. 

In  consequence  of  these  native  springs  and  recip- 
rocal counterchecks  of  human  action,  all  under  the 
control  of  divine  wisdom,  we  have  such  a  world  as 
there  is.  Nothing  comes  to  pass  by  chance  ;  nothing 
exists    but    what    is    produced    by    an    active    cause 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  191 

behind  it ;  and  there  is  nothing  which  is  not  directed 
and  overrided  by  the  divine  government  in  some 
way  for  good.  Do  we  see  sexual  attractions  and 
attachments,  marriages,  and  thence  families  ?  This 
is  natural,  and  as  such  is  an  ordinance  of  God,  the 
Author  of  nature.  Do  we  see  people  coming 
together  in  all  sorts  of  associated  relationship  for 
all  sorts  of  purposes .''  This  is  an  outgrowth  of 
man's  social  nature,  ever  working  under  such  condi- 
tions as  at  any  time  exist.  Hence  the  smallest 
group  and  the  largest  empire.  Do  we  see  physical 
strength,  industry,  business  enterprise,  wealth,  intel- 
ligence, and  religion  taking  on  definite  forms  and 
developing  manifold  activities.''  They  all  have  their 
origin  in  human  nature  ;  that  is  the  fountain  head 
of  them  all. 

And  now  I  ask.  What  is  the  aggregate  product 
of  these  forces,  activities,  and  their  adjuncts  ?  It  is 
what  we  call  civilization.  And  civilization,  therefore, 
is  the  average  advance  of  mankind  in  their  social 
characteristics,  from  primal  simplicity,  crudeness, 
savageism,  towards  an  ideal  state  of  intelligence, 
refinement,  virtue,  and  spiritual  attainment.  It  is 
otherwise  termed  civil  society,  or,  if  you  please, 
political  society,  when  represented  in  the  different 
tribes,  states,  and  nations  of  the  earth.  Civil  society 
localized,  includes  all  the  smaller  bodies  politic,  asso- 
ciations, partnerships,  families,  individuals  within  its 
territorial  limits,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent,  whether 
they  will  or  not.  Man  is  a  governmental  being  by 
nature,  as  well  as  a  social,  intellectual,  religious,  or 
otherwise    endowed    one.      He    has   an    instinct    and 


192  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

capacity  for  order,  law,  and  ruling  agencies  of  some 
sort,  in  all  his  associative  operations.  Hence  govern- 
ment like  marriage  is  an  ordinance  of  God,  because 
it  is  the  legitimate  outcome  of  the  nature  of  man 
whereof  God  is  the  author.  As  the  most  imperfect 
type  of  married  life  is  better  than  lawless  commin- 
o;ling  of  the  sexes,  so  the  poorest  of  governments  are 
better  than  no  government  at  all. 

But  what  is  the  specific  function  of  civil  govern- 
ment ?  It  is  to  maintain  and  keep  in  order  the 
average  of  civilization  attained  by  general  society  at 
any  given  date  or  age,  to  repress  outrage  and  misrule 
below  that  average,  and  to  promote  the  improvement 
of  its  constituents  so  far  as  public  opinion  and  com- 
mon cooperation  render  this  practicable.  Further 
than  this  civil  government  cannot  go,  even  though 
its  officials  and  representatives  at  any  time  might 
desire  to  do  so.  Whatever  is  done  to  elevate  and 
benefit  mankind  above  and  beyond  the  general  level, 
must  be  done  by  individuals,  outside  associations,  and 
divine  providence,  not  by  governmental  action. 

We  come  now  to  the  subject  of  this  discourse  : 
The  relation  of  Christ,  his  disciples  and  church,  to 
the  cardinal  activities  which  pertain  to  civilization, 
to  civil  society,  and  especially  to.  civil  government. 
Does  Primitive  Christianity  aim  to  abolish  physical 
force  .'*  No;  but  by  wise  modifications  to  render  it 
harmless  and  beneficent.  Does  it  aim  to  abolish 
productive  industry  ?  No ;  but  only  to  render  it 
useful  and  conducive  to  the  highest  good  of 
all  men.  Does  it  aim  to  abolish  business  enter- 
prise,   mechanical    ingenuity,    agriculture,    manufac- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  193 

tares,  commerce,  etc.?  No;  but  to  render  them 
fraternal,  benevolent,  and  subservient  to  the  gen- 
eral welfare.  Does  it  aim  to  abolish  property, 
wealth,  worldly  possessions  ?  No ;  but  only  to 
conform  their  production,  distribution,  uses,  and 
final  disposal  to  the  law  of  human  brotherhood. 
Does  it  aim  to  abolish  education,  learning,  literature, 
science,  art,  philosophy.?  No;  but  to  purify  and 
ennoble  them,  and  make  them  in  the  highest  degree 
useful  to  all  classes  and  conditions  of  people.  Does 
it  aim  to  abolish  natural  relis-ion  or  the  common 
moralities  of  life  ?  No  ;  but  to  elevate  and  perfect 
them  by  higher  divine  revelations,  inspirations,  ethi- 
cal principles,  and  practical  virtues.  Does  it  aim 
to  abolish  marriage,  or  the  family  relation,  or  volun- 
tary association,  or  society  at  large,  or  civilization, 
or  political  government  and  institutions  ?  No  ;  but 
by  all  its  spiritual  and  moralizing  influences  to  regen- 
erate them  as  fast  as  it  can  and  improve  them  to 
the  utmost  of  their  respective  capabilities.  It  is,  in 
fine,  to  perfect  them  and  thereby  superinduce  the 
highest  possible  moral  order,  social  harmony,  and 
fraternal  good  will  throughout  the  earth,  yea,  in  all 
spheres  of  human  existence. 

But  how  does  Primitive  Christianity  propose  to 
prosecute  and  fulfil  this  grand  mission  ?  Not  by 
lowering  itself  to  the  moral  level  of  society  as  it  is, 
and  of  civil  cfovernment  under  cxistins:  forms,  with 
their  multiform  institutions  and  activfties,  while  still 
barbarous,  or  semi-barbarous,  crude,  and  at  best 
radically  wrong  in  important  respects.  This  would 
be  to  falsify  itself,  apostatize  from  its  high  calling. 


194  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

and  defeat  its  professed  design.  It  would  thus 
become  the  mere  concubine  of  the  world  and  lose 
its  power  to  carry  it  forward  one  step  beyond  its 
present  defective  religions  and  moral  philosophies. 
The  devotees  of  such  religions  and  philosophies  are 
content  to  subsist  and  fatten  on  the  patronage  of 
any  government  that  can  profit  by  their  influence. 
Not  so  Primitive  Christianity.  It  occupies  vastly 
hiofher  ground.  It  unfurls  its  banner  on  the  moun- 
tain  top,  far  above  the  tented  field  of  the  best  civil 
government  which  has  ever  yet  been  set  up  on  the 
earth.  It  proposes  a  far  better  order  of  social  and 
civil  life  than  has  ever  yet  been  actualized  under 
heaven,  even  that  divine  order  whose  **  ofificers  shall 
be  peace  and  its  exactors  righteousness,"  and  under 
whose  sway  *'  violence  shall  no  more  be  heard  in  the 
land,  wasting  nor  destruction  within  its  borders"; 
whose  **  walls  shall  be  salvation  and  its  gates  praise." 
For  it  proclaims  that  law  of  perfect  love  which 
works  no  ill  to  any  man,  and  compromises  with 
nothing  contrary  to  that  law  ;  it  commands  its  disci- 
ples not  to  oppose  evil  with  evil  but  to  overcome 
it  with  good  ;  and  requires  them  to  be  "  the  salt  of 
the  earth  "  and  ''the  light  of  the  world ;"  the  first- 
fruits  of  a  radical  and  universal  regeneration,  and  the 
pioneers  of  the  himian  race  to  their  destined  holi- 
ness, harmony,  and  bliss. 

But  to  be  able  to  serve  such  a  grand  and  glorious 
purpose  as  this,*  those  enlisted  for  the  work,  Christ's 
true  followers  —  in  the  aggregate,  his  church  —  must 
be  mindful  of  two  things  :  (i)  Not  to  let  the  world 
ensnare,  dismantle,  and  overpower  them  ;  and  (2)  not 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  195 

to  be  themselves  a  detriment  or  hindrance  to  society 
at  large  or  to  civil  government  or  to  any  other  exist- 
ing institutions  in  the  prosecution  of  their  own 
proper  work  on  their  own  proper  plane  for  the  tem- 
porary good  of  mankind  ;  agencies  which  mankind 
must  have  in  an  imperfect  form  until  thoroughly  con- 
verted to  and  established  in  the  supreme  excellence 
of  Primitive  Christianity.  These  are  important  and 
difficult  tasks  to  perform  ;  and  it  is  no  wonder  that 
there  have  been  such  awkward  attempts  and  pitiful 
failures  in  regard  to  them  on  the  part  of  professsed 
Christians.  It  has  been  like  sailing  between  Scylla 
and  Charybdis  ;  often  a  dash  against  one  rock  or  the 
other;  the  church  sometimes  becoming  the  tool  of 
the  state  by  yielding  tamely  to  its  unjust  and  wicked 
exactions,  and  sometimes  making  the  state  its  tool 
by  invoking  its  sword  to  assist  in  furthering  its  inter- 
ests and  inaugurating  the  kingdom  of  God  on  the 
earth  ;  now  trying  to  revolutionize  existing  govern- 
ment by  force  of  arms,  and  again  to  obtain  possession 
of  it  by  political  intrigue  and  manoeuvre.  But 
primitive  Christian  morality  was  pre-eminently  wise, 
holy,  and  promotive  of  human  progress  in  this 
regard.      Let  us  note  its  capital  points  : 

(i)  It  recognized  civil  governments  as  natural, 
God-ordained,  useful,  and  necessary  on  their  own 
plane;  therefore  to  be  respected  and  not  to  be 
treated  contemptuously  nor  violently  resisted,  even 
when  oppressive,  persecuting,  and  outrageously 
wicked  in  their  administration.  They  were  to  be 
cheerfully  obeyed  when  they  were  in  the  right,  con- 
formed to  in  all  matters  of  morally  indifferent  detail 


196  rRIMITIYE    CHRISTIANITY 

and  usage,  and  submitted  to  without  forcible  rebellion 
in  cases  where  their  requirements  contravened  the 
divine  law,  and  where  conscience  should  therefore 
forbid  obedience  to  them.  In  such  cases  Non-resist- 
ance should  be  practiced  on  two  grounds  of  duty: 
( I )  That  the  perfect  law  of  love  prompted  and 
enjoined  its  application  to  governmental  evil-doers 
as  well  as  to  individual  offenders;  and  (2)  That 
proper  regard  for  the  natural  office  and  function  of 
government  demanded  it.  Hence  Christ  said  **  Ren- 
der unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,"  that  is 
to  worldly,  civil  government  under  all  circumstances 
its  due  tribute  of  respect  and  peaceable  submission  ; 
and  "to  God  the  things  that  are  God's";  that  is,  all 
duties  owed  to  Him  —  supreme  homage  and  obedi- 
ence. Thus  Jesus,  when  called  upon  to  pay  customs 
to  the  Roman  power,  although  he  did  not  deem  the 
demand  wholly  just,  complied,  in  order  to  avoid 
offence  against  the  established  civil  authority. 
Hence  also  Paul  said,  "  Rulers  are  not  a  terror  to 
good  works  but  to  the  evil,"  that  is,  such  is  their 
natural  and  God-designed  purpose.  "Wherefore  ye 
must  needs  be  subject  not  only  for  wrath,  but  for 
conscience'  sake."  "  Render  therefore  to  all  their 
dues ;  tribute  to  whom  tribute ;  custom  to  whom 
custom,  fear  to  whom  fear,  honor  to  whom  honor." — 
Rom.  xiii.  3,  5,  7.  Furthermore  the  same  apostle 
directs  that  "supplications,  prayers,  intercessions, 
ofivine:  of  thanks  be  made  for  all  men  ;  for  kings  and 
all  that  are  in  authority,  that  we  may  lead  a  quiet 
and  peaceable  life  in  all  godliness  and  honesty." — 
I   Tim.  ii.   i,  2.     Again:  "Put   them    in   mind   to  be 


AXD    ITS    COkRUPTrONS.     '  197 

subject  to  principalities  and  powers,  to  obey  magis- 
trates, to  be  ready  to  every  good  work,  to  speak  evil 
of  no  man,  to  be  no  brawlers  but  gentle,  showing 
meekness  to  all  men." —  Titus  iii.  i,  2.  And  Peter 
said:  "Submit  yourself  unto  every  ordinance  of  mm 
for  the  Lord's  sake  ;  whether  it  be  to  the  king  as 
supreme  or  unto  governors,  as  unto  them  that  are 
sent  by  him  for  the  punishment  of  evil  doers  and 
for  the  praise  of  them  that  do  well."  **  Honor  all 
men,  love  the  brotherhood,  fear  God,  honor  the 
king." — I  Peter  \\.    13,  14,  17. 

2.  But  there  is  another  consideration  to  be  noted 
in  this  connection.  Civil  governments  in  those 
early  days  were  not  Christian.  They  were  notori- 
ously anti-Christian,  and  the  best  of  them  were  cer- 
tain to  be  anti-Christian,  more  or  less,  for  ages  ; 
as  in  fact  they  all  are  in  important  respects  to  this 
day.  In  their  very  nature  it  was  and  is  impossible 
for  them  to  be  better  than  their  averao^e  constitu- 
ency;  to  act  from  higher  principles  than  public  sen- 
timent for  the  time  being  will  accept,  sanction,  and 
sustain.  Hence,  as  governments  are  but  the  expo- 
nents and  executors  of  public  sentiment  in  the  general 
society  whose  affairs  they  administer,  they  would 
naturally  be  the  oppressors  and  persecutors  of  Christ- 
ians so  long  as  these  were  a  despised  and  hated 
minority.  Moreover,  hostile  religionists,  philoso- 
phers, and  the  baser  elements  of  general  society 
would  stimulate  their  political  officials  and  leaders 
to  oppression  and  persecution.  In  such  cases  the 
first  thing  likely  to  be  done  by  those  in  authority 
would     be    to    decree    that     the    Christians     should 


198  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

abandon  their  religion,  cease  to  teach  it,  and  refrain 
from  all  efforts  to  extend  its  influence  and  power. 
Now  if  the  primitive  Christian  doctrine  had  been 
"  Obey  civil  governments  implicitly  and  unqualifiedly, 
whatever  they  may  require."  then  there  would  have 
been  a  speedy  end  of  all  Christian  teaching,  of  the 
Christian  conscience,  and  of  Christianity  itself; 
aye,  and  of  all  human  progress  thereby  promoted. 
But  Christ  and  his  representatives  provided  against 
such  a  fatal  issue.  "  Behold  I  send  you  forth  as 
sheep  in  the  midst  of  wolves,"  said  he,  "be  ye  there- 
fore wise  as  serpents  and  harmless  as  doves.  But 
beware  of  men  ;  for  they  will  deliver  you  up  to  the 
councils,  and  they  will  scourge  you  in  their  syna- 
gogues. And  ye  shall  be  brought  before  governors 
and  kings  for  my  name's  sake."  "But  when  they 
persecute  you  in  this  city  flee  ye  into  another." 
"And  fear  not  them  which  kill  the  body  but  are  not 
able  to  kill  the  soul,  but  rather  fear  him  who  is  able 
to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell." — MaU.  x.  i6- 
i8,  23,  28.  When  Peter  and  John  were  commanded 
by  the  Jewish  rulers  "  not  to  speak  at  all  nor  teach 
in  the  name  of  Jesus,"  their  rejoinder  was,  "Whether 
it  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God  to  hearken  unto  you 
more  than  unto  God,  judge  ye." — Acts  iv.  18,  19. 
So  throughout  the  New  Testament  we  find  this 
point  of  duty  plainly  prescribed  :  —  to  disobey  gov- 
ernment whereinsoever  it  required  them  to  renounce, 
or  violate,  or  compromise  their  religious  principles, 
but  always  with  unresisting,  meek  submission  to 
whatever  persecutions  or  penalties  might  be  imposed 
upon  them. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  199 

3.  There  is  yet  another  important  duty  relative 
to  civil  government  which  Christian  morality  pre- 
scribes ;  and  that  is,  not  to  invoke  the  aid  of  its 
military  and  penal  power  in  any  case  whatsoever,  nor 
assume  any  of  its  responsibility  for  resorts  to  injuri- 
ous and  deadly  force.  If  Christians  could  consist- 
ently do  this,  their  most  central  doctrine  of  perfect 
love  and  their  primal  virtue  of  abstaining  from  all 
resistance  of  evil  with  evil  would  be  at  once  nullified 
and  made  void,  and  their  morality  would  sink 
instantly  to  the  level  of  that  of  Jewish  rabbis  and 
Pagan  philosophers, —  it  would  virtually  disappear 
from  among  men.  Then  they  would  no  longer  "be 
the  salt  of  the  earth"  and  **the  light  of  the  world." 
Accordingly  we  find  no  precept  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment instructing  men  to  seek  political  office,  prose- 
cute cases  of  law,  or  call  on  the  existing  government 
to  lend  them  penal  or  military  assistance  for  any 
purpose,  even  to  defend  property,  honor,  or  life. 
Nor  do  we  find  there  a  word  of  advice  in  regard  to 
seeking  governmental  aid  for  the  promotion  of 
Christianity  in  the  world.  It  is  however  evident 
from  the  nature  of  their  religion,  and  from  the 
example  of  the  apostles,  that  if  Christians  were 
taken  into  custody  by  the  civil  magistrate  or 
arraigned  before  the  civil  courts  at  the  instigation 
of  their  enemies,  they  might  rightfully  plead  their 
cause  and  claim  all  the  privileges  in  the  way  of  a 
fair  trial  and  decent  treatment  that  impartial  justice 
would  dictate.  They  could  also  innocently  ask  the 
governing  authorities,  by  formal  petition  or  other- 
wise,  for  any  intervention    or    action    on    their  part 


200  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

not  contrary  to  their  own  avowed  Christian  princi- 
ples. They  were,  moreover,  in  no  wise  forbidden 
to  serv^e  the  government  in  any  capacity  which 
required  no  sacrifice  of  principle  and  involved  no 
personal  responsibility  for  governmental  resorts  to 
deadly  force  or  other  unchristian  practice.  But 
there  were  few  opportunities  for  such  service  in 
the  early  centuries  of  our  era,  and  they  are  not 
numerous  now.  Christ  himself  eschewed  on  all 
occasions  the  functions,  honors,  and  emoluments  of 
civil  office.  He  would  not  be  a  "judge  or  divider," 
even  when  solicited,  nor  allow  himself  before  Pilate 
to  be  deemed  an  aspirant  for  any  earthly  throne. 
His  apostles  after  his  departure  laid  aside  all  ambi- 
tion for  temporal  power.  Some  of  them  sought  it 
for  him  and  themselves  early  in  their  discipleship, 
but  never  after  becoming  fully  imbued  with  his 
spirit,  and  fully  conscious  of  their  mission.  Paul 
rebuked  the  Corinthian  church  sharply  for  resort- 
ing to  litigation  in  the  civil  courts.  "There  is 
utterly  a  fault  among  you,"  he  said,  "because  ye  go 
to  law  one  with  another.  Why  do  ye  not  rather 
endure  wrong  .^  Why  do  ye  not  suffer  yourselves 
to  be  defrauded  ?  " —  i  Cor.  vi.   7. 

Thus  have  I  shown  the  relation  in  which  Primi- 
tive Christianity  teaches  its  true  disciples  to  stand 
to  civil  governments,  and  the  duty  of  non-participa- 
tion in  and  disobedience  to  them,  in  cases  involving 
a  violation  of  Christian  principles,  and  of  peaceable 
submission  to  their  wrongful  exactions,  persecutions, 
and  judicial  inflictions.  I  have  also  inferentially 
shown  what   the  perfect   Christian   morality  requires 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  201 

of  its  professors  in  all  their  relations  to  worldly  men  ; 
personal,  domestic,  social,  political,  civil,  and  govern- 
mental. And  now  I  ask,  what  would  be  the  charac- 
ter and  influence  of  any  one  who  should  exemplify 
this  morality  in  the  several  respects  and  to  the 
extent  indicated,  as  perfect  love  requires  ?  And 
what  would  be  the  character  and  influence  of  a 
church  composed  of  members  who  were  true  and 
faithful,  in  principle  and  practice,  to  that  high 
standard  of  truth  and  duty  ?  Would  not  such  char- 
acter and  influence,  even  in  the  case  of  a  single 
individual,  be  good,  noble,  heavenly  >  Would  such 
an  individual,  or  a  church  made  up  of  such  individ- 
uals retard  human  progress  or  hinder  the  work  of 
civilizing  and  regenerating  society  and  the  world  ? 
Would  they  be  a  detriment  to  the  government  under 
which  they  might  live  .^  Would  not  persons  of  the 
moral  and  religious  type  I  have  indicated  do  quite 
as  much  good  to  a  town,  state,  or  nation,  and  at 
as  little  cost,  as  any  equal  number  who  should 
manipulate  and  manage  party  politics, —  vote,  hold 
office,  execute  legal  penalties,  and  fight  in  and  for 
the  government  ?  In  the  name  of  truth,  justice, 
and  common  sense,  I  ask  if  they  would  not  be  the 
very  best  class  of  subjects  which  a  town,  state,  or 
nation  could  have  within  its  jurisdiction.^  These 
inquiries  could  receive  only  an  affirmative  answer 
from  any  reflecting,  candid,  rightly  disposed  individ- 
ual. Yet  there  are  many  professing  Christians  as 
well  as  non-Christians  who  imagine  that  little  or 
nothing  can  be  done  for  human  progress  and  the 
world's  betterment  except    through    the   administra- 


202  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

tive  agencies  of  civil  government;  that  the  great 
work  of  purifying  and  elevating  public  opinion,  the 
public  conscience  and  morals,  such  as  Christ  and 
his  Apostles  wrought,  is  of  very  little  account. 
They  must  put  their  particular  party  into  posses- 
sion of  the  governmental  purse,  sceptre,  and  sword, 
and  then  the  right  sort  of  laws  would  be  enacted 
and  enforced,  and  all  who  could  be  persuaded  would 
be  compelled  to  keep  step  to  the  music  of  the  grand 
millennial  march.  With  such,  moral  and  religious 
forces  avail  little  and  Christian  Non-resistance  is 
what  Henry  Ward  Beecher  once  contemptuously 
called  it,  "  Christian  nonsense."  Nevertheless,  I 
should  be  unworthy  my  acknowledged  Lord  and 
Master  and  faithless  to  my  most  solemn  and  sub- 
lime convictions  of  truth  and  duty,  if  I  could  be 
sneered  or  frightened  out  of  my  position. 

Yet  I  presume  not  to  deride,  despise,  or  denounce 
those  who  are  wedded  to  the  existing  civilistic  and 
politico-military  system  of  worldly  government.  If 
they  honestly  occupy  that  comparatively  low  moral 
plane  and  neither  see  nor  aspire  to  anything  higher, 
let  them  do  the  best  they  can  for  God  and  human- 
ity with  the  machinery  there  at  their  command. 
But  I  wish  it  to  be  unmistakably  understood  that 
I  regard  the  primitive  Christian  morality  vastly 
superior  to  that  exemplified  by  them,  and  claim  that 
those  who  adopt  it  and  live  according  to  its  require- 
ments are  the  most  advanced  and  the  wisest  leaders 
of  mankind  to  their  divinely  ordained  destiny.  Yea, 
that  such  are  the  most  effective  promoters  of  all 
that  is  intrinsically  good  in  general   society  and  in 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  -OS 

civil  government  as  now  administered  ;  while  at  the 
same  time  they  reach  farthest  forward  towards  that 
glorious  consummation  of  the  divine  purpose  which 
is  the  fulfilment  of  the  Saviour's  prayer,  *'Thy  king- 
dom come,  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven."    . 


DISCOURSE    XV. 

ox  THE   PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIAN    VIRTUE    OF 
PERSONAL   PURITY. 

"■  That  which  cometh  out  of  the  man,  that  defileth  the  man 
For  from  within,  out  of  the  heart  of  men,  proceed  evil  thoughts, 
adulteries,  fornications,  murders,  thefts,  covetousness,  wicked- 
ness, deceit,  lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye,  blasphemy,  pride, 
foolishness.  All  these  evil  things  come  from  within  and  defile 
the  man." — Mark  vii.  20-25. 

"  Dearly  beloved,  let  us  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  filthiness 
of  the  flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God." 

—  2  Cor.  vii.    I. 

"  As  he  which  hath  called  you  is  holy,  so  be  ye  holy  in  all 
manner  of  conversation." — i  Peter  \.   15. 

''Every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  him  purifyeth  himself." 

—  I  John  iii.  3. 

There  were  religious  and  moral  philosophies  before 
the  advent  of  Christ  which  inculcated  the  doctrine 
of  Personal  Purity  and  enjoined  its  practical  exem- 
plification upon  their  avowed  adherents.  In  some 
respects  his  morality  agreed  with  theirs  on  this 
subject  ;  but  in  others  it  differed,  bring  less  ascetic 
and  reclusive  but  more  spiritual.  And  my  claim 
for  its  superiority  and  pre-eminence  as  a  primitive 
Christian  virtue  or  element  of  character  is  based 
upon  this  ground  and  not  on  the  ground  of  its 
absolute  originality  and  intrinsic  difference  from  all 
other  forms  of  the  same  thin.o-.      What  then  are  we 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY.  205 

to  understand  Personal  Purity  to  be,  as  a  part  of 
the  morality  taught  and  required  by  Primitive 
Christianity  ?  Purity  is  freedom  from  improper  and 
foreign  admixtures  —  from  what  defiles  or  contami- 
nates any  given  substance.  In  morals  it  is  freedom 
from  evil  accompaniments  —  from  what  is  corrupt 
and  vile,  and  Personal  Purity  is  the  freedom  of  the 
individual  from  unclean  lusts,  practices,  habits, — 
from  disorderly  sensual  desires  and  undue  indulgence 
of  the  passions  and  appetites.  In  my  analysis  of 
the  virtue  under  notice  as  related  to  human  charac- 
ter and  conduct,  there  are  five  distinct  forms  in 
which  it  finds  expression,  as  there  are  five  forms 
of  impurity  to  be  recognized  and  abjured.  Let  us 
consider  these  in  a  certain  prescribed  order,  as 
follows :  — 

I.  Sexual  impurity.  This  includes  adultery,  for- 
nication, and  all  kinds  of  lasciviousness  or  lewdness 
—  all  sorts  of  illicit  and  licentious  intercourse 
between  the  male  and  female  sexes.  If  I  under- 
stand the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  Jesus  and 
his  apostles  taught  (  i  )  that  marriage  between  one 
man  and  one  woman  is  natural,  right,  and  honor- 
able, in  the  ordinary  course  of  human  relationship; 
(2)  that  celibacy  is  wisest  and  best  under  such 
circumstances  as  render  marriage  overburdensome 
or  for  special  reasons  undesirable;  (3)  that  all 
sexual  intimacies  of  married  persons  with  others 
than  wife  or  husband  are  out  of  divine  order  and 
adulterous;  (4)  that  persistent  adultery  is  the  only 
justifiable  cause  for  divorce;  (5)  that  the  celibate 
or  unmarried  should  abstain  from  all  sexual  cohabi- 


206  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

tation,  lascivious  conduct,  and  incontinent  abuses. 
In  the  early  Christian  days  this  code  of  sexual 
morality  was  regarded  as  over-strict  and  impracti- 
cable by  the  great  mass  of  people  who  occupied  the 
common  plane  of  lustful  indulgence  in  these  mat- 
ters, as  it  is  still  so  regarded  by  such,  even  in 
Christendom.  So  is  much  of  the  primitive  Chris- 
tian requirement  in  other  particulars,  as  I  show 
elsewhere  in  this  series  of  discourses.  But  it  was 
given  for  the  edification  and  observance  of  those 
who  were  the  sincerely  pledged  followers  of  Christ 
as  the  pioneers  in  a  new  order  of  life  on  the  earth 
and  in  the  work  of  human  regeneration ;  not  for 
worldly-minded,  sensual  men  of  any  sort  —  religion- 
ists, philosophers,  and  civilizers  bearing  any  name 
who  were  willingly  committed  and  bound  to  a  lower 
standard  of  action.  To  their  own  masters  they 
stand  or  fall.  If  they  choose  to  follow  other  leaders 
than  Christ,  and  be  governed  by  other  lawgivers, 
or  by  other  rules  or  customs  than  those  sanctioned 
by  him,  they  are  free  to  do  so,  but  they  must  take 
the  consequences.  The  so-called  disciples  of  Christ, 
however,  are  bound  to  obey  his  injunctions  and 
precepts  in  this  as  in  other  things,  or  they  falsify 
their  profession  and  act  as  traitors  to  him  whom 
they  avowedly  serve.  Yet  it  ought  to  be  shown, 
as  I  think  may  be  done,  that  even  these  are  not 
required  to  do  anything  unreasonable  or  contrary 
to  the  highest  good  of  themselves  or  others.  Is 
there  anything  opposed  to  sound  judgment,  extrav- 
agant, or  unbeneficent  in  this  sexual  morality  of 
Christ,    as    I    have    defined    and    applied    it.?     It    is 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  207 

indeed  high,  pure,  far  above  and  beyond  the  prac- 
tice of  the  world  at  large,  and  difficult  of  attain- 
ment, requiring  much  self-discipline  and  restraint 
of  the  lower  passions  of  human  nature.  What 
would  it  be  worth  if  it  were  not  so  ?  Let  us  pur- 
sue this  inquiry  in  detail. 

Does  not  reason  fortified  by  experience  teach 
that  marriage  as  a  general  rule  is  best  for  mankind, 
as  founded  in  the  instincts  of  human  nature  and  as 
conducive  to  human  virtue  and  happiness  ?  Does 
it  not  teach  that  monogamatic  marriage  —  the  union 
of  one  man  and  one  woman  in  connubial  bonds  — 
is  more  orderly,  healthful,  and  joy-promoting  than 
polygamy,  or  morganatic  union,  or  complex  wedlock 
of  any  kind  ?  Does  it  not  teach  that  adulterous 
sexual  intimacies  make  the  parties  concerned  less 
contented  and  happy  than  others,  and  that  they 
render  the  condition  of  such  less  desirable  on  the 
whole  than  that  of  those  not  given  to  such  practices  ^ 
Does  it  not  teach  that  unmarried  persons  lose  rather 
than  gain  in  body,  mind,  and  spirit,  by  fornication, 
prostitution,  self-pollution,  sodomy,  or  any  kind  of 
unchaste,  lascivious  habits  or  practices  ?  Alas,  what 
wails  of  wretchedness,  of  despair  even,  come  up 
from  the  millions  of  those  who  have  suffered  the 
bitter  consequences  of  acting  contrary  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  sexual  morality  of  the  primitive 
Gospel  of  Christ.  But  who  ever  suffered  from 
scrupulous  conformity  to  them,  except  it  may 
have  been  some  wholesome  temporary  self-denial 
which  was  afterwards  recompensed  by  incalculable 
good  ? 


208  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

But  some  persons  will  say  the  doctrine  is  good, 
but  there  are  many  who  cannot  practice  it  ;  who 
cannot  control  their  animal  passions  and  hold  them- 
selves under  the  required  restraint.  Perhaps;  yet 
would  they  ask  the  heavenly  Father  to  repeal  or 
relax  his  holy  laws  ?  Would  they  have  Christ  grant 
them  license  for  their  lusts  ?  And  if  such  license 
were  granted,  or  if  God's  laws  were  annulled,  would 
they  be  permanently  benefited  thereby?  They  may 
have  their  own  way,  but,  I  repeat,  they  must  take 
the  results  of  doing  so.  ''Experience  keeps  a  dear 
school,"  but  there  are  those  who  will  learn  in  no 
other.  It  is  sometimes  a  long  and  bitter  course  of 
tuition  in  this  school  that  teaches  some  very  simple 
lessons.  Try  it,  ye  who  will,  and,  when  you  gradu- 
ate, confess  that  Christ's  school,  with  its  yoke  and 
burden,  is  the    easier  and  the  lighter. 

Another  may  say  that  the  preacher  must  not  pass 
by  that  point  of  this  morality  which  allows  of  but 
one  cause  for  divorce,  to  wit:  —  sexual  infidelity. 
That  certainly  is  of  doubtful  validity.  Answer:  I 
know  that  in  ancient  times,  and  in  modern  times 
also,  several  other  causes  have  been  deemed  suffi- 
cient to  justify  a  dissolution  of  the  marriage  covenant. 
In  the  former  a  husband  had  power  to  put  away 
his  wife  almost  at  his  own  pleasure.  Even  the 
Mosaic  law  granted  large  liberty  of  that  sort. 
Christ  knew  this,  but  did  not  sanction  it  —  did  not 
deem  it  a  proper  rule  for  his  followers  and  church. 
And  he  tells  us  why  ( See  Matt.  xix.  2-9).  I 
know  also  that  marriage  is  now  widely  regarded  as 
merely   or  mainly  a  civil  contract,  sanctionable  and 


AND   ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  209 

revocable  by  civil  enactment.  Let  those  who  regard 
it  in  this  light,  deeming  the  statutes  of  men  their 
supreme  law,  fix  the  matter  to  suit  society  as  it  is. 
Let  them  marry  and  unmarry  after  the  fashion  of 
the  world  for  the  time  being  and  abide  by  the 
results.  But  let  those  professing  to  be.  Christians 
learn  to  marry  and  unmarry  as  their  Master  directs, 
and  maintain  the  sanctity  of  the  relationship  in  the 
spirit  of  his  teachings.  He  did  not  regard  marriage 
among  his  followers  as  a  purely  civil  agreement, 
but  as  a  divinely  ordered  religious  covenant,  to  be 
entered  into  from  holy  motives,  to  be  sacredly  kept 
and  never  annulled  except  by  the  open,  persistent, 
unrepentant  marital  infidelity  of  one  or  both  the 
parties  involved.  Separations  for  just  causes  are 
not  forbidden  or  condemned  in  the  New  Testament, 
but  divorce,  save  for  the  one  cause  named,  is  dis- 
allowed. 

But  is  it  not  hard,  one  may  say,  for  the  innocent 
party  in  case  of  separation  to  be  denied  the  privi- 
lege of  marrying  again  during  the  natural  lite-time 
of  the  guilty  one  1  Very  likely,  in  some  cases.  A 
great  many  wholesome  duties  are  hard  but  are  not 
to  be  ignored  or  evaded  for  that  reason.  I  believe 
this  to  be  a  wholesome  duty  and  one  conducive  of 
the  highest  good  to  humanity.  If  a  Christian  by 
some  mistake  has  become  entangled  in  a  marriage 
which  proves  burdensome  or  intolerable,  let  it  be 
endured  with  the  best  grace  possible;  but  if  it 
become  too  oppressive  and  odious  to  be  further 
borne,  let  the  sufferer  nobly  resolve  not  to  attempt 
a  second  experiment  of   the  same  kind   contrary  to 


210  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

his  Master's  injunction.  As  for  those  who  choose 
to  set  Christ  at  naught  and  to  act  on  a  more  accom- 
modating moral  plane,  let  them  try  what  experiments 
in  marriage  and  divorce  they  please  and  learn  wis- 
dom thereby.  For  my  own  part  I  have  no  doubt 
that  the  primitive  doctrine  of  Christ  upon  this  sub- 
ject is  the  wisest  and  best  for  the  permanent  good 
of  mankind,  and  the  only  one  to  be  practiced  by 
those  who  would  be  his  faithful  disciples. 

2.  Gustatory  Impurity.  This  includes  drunken- 
ness, gluttony,  and  all  excesses  or  abuses  of  the 
natural  appetite  for  food  and  drink — -intemperance 
of  every  kind  and  name  and  all  abnormal  stimula- 
tion of  the  physical  system.  I  do  not  claim  that 
Jesus  and  his  immediate  ministers  taught  total 
abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  beverages  ;  for  I  do 
not  believe  any  such  claim  can  be  sustained.  Nor  do 
I  claim  that  they  taught  any  specific  system  of  dietet- 
ics, such  as,  before  and  since  their  time,  have  been 
prescribed  by  certain  religionists  and  philosophers 
of  worthy  eminence.  John  the  Baptist  went  far 
beyond  Christ  in  the  direction  of  regulating  the  use 
of  meats  and  drinks.  This  is  evident  from  the 
record.  But  we  must  not  infer  that  the  Master  or 
his  Apostles  ever  opposed  or  in  any  way  disparaged 
Nazaritish  simplicity  or  abstemiousness  in  respect 
to  intoxicating  beverages,  dietetic  indulgences,  or 
physiological  habits  generally.  They  never  did. 
Paul  plainly  inculcated  the  duty  of  abstinence  from 
the  use  of  meat  which  might  cause  others  to  stum- 
ble in  the  pathway  of  life.  And  this  is  the  prin- 
ciple  upon   which   Christians    must    adopt  and    urge 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  211 

the  pledge  of  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicants. 
I  cannot  put  it  upon  any  other  ground.  I  cannot 
honestly  affirm  that  all  such  liquors  are  poisons 
per  se ;  nor  that  they  are  under  all  circumstances 
injurious  to  the  human  system  ;  nor  that  if  used  in 
strict  moderation  they  would  do  serious  harm.  But 
I  at  the  same  time  believe  that  their  use  is  not 
necessary  to  the  health  and  well-being  of  men,  that 
they  can  be  safely  dispensed  with,  that  under  exist- 
ing conditions  the  example  of  using  them  is  a  dan- 
gerous temptation  to  millions,  and  that,  therefore, 
it  is  an  imperative  Christian  duty  to  abjure  them 
as  beverages  altogether. 

But  why,  it  may  be  asked,  did  not  Christ  and  the 
evangelists  take  that  ground  .'*  Because  it  was  in 
their  day  unnecessary,  and  because  their  principles 
involved  the  duty  of  taking  it,  whenever,  in  the 
experience  of  mankind,  it  should  become  necessary. 
The  distillation  of  alcohol  was  then  unknown,  and 
I  deem  it  safe  to  affirm  that  in  the  present  age, 
under  existing  forms  of  civil  and  social  life,  the 
facilities  and  enticements  to  an  excessive  use  or 
gross  abuse  of  intoxicants  have  multiplied  ten,  fifty, 
or  a  hundred  fold.  Hence  sobriety  and  temperance 
cannot  be  maintained  in  the  face  of  these  manifold 
temptations,  without  the  stringent  application  of 
the  rule  of  total  abstinence  from  all  that  can  intoxi- 
cate. Nor  can  I  doubt  that  were  Christ  now  in  the 
flesh,  his  own  cardinal  principles  of  truth  and  duty 
would  require   him  to  adopt  this  rule. 

But  notwithstanding  the  different  state  of  things 
in  their   times,  the    testimonies    of    Christ    and    his 


212  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

followers  were  stern  and  uncompromising  against 
drunkenness,  gluttony,  and  all  sorts  of  revelry. 
Jesus  himself,  in  describing  the  moral  degradation 
of  the  prodigal  son,  represents  him  as  having 
"  wasted  his  substance  in  riotous  living."  And  the 
faithless  servant  at  his  coming  was  one  who  "ate 
and  drank  with  the  drunken."  Paul  said,  "  Let  us 
walk  honestly  as  in  the  day ;  not  in  rioting  and 
drunkenness,  etc.  But  put  on  ye  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  make  not  provision  for  the  flesh  to  ful- 
fill the  lusts  thereof."  —  Rom.  xii.  12-14.  And 
Peter ;  "  The  time  past  of  our  life  may  suffice  us 
to  have  wrought  the  will  of  the  Gentiles  when  we 
walked  in  lasciviousness,  lusts,  excess  of  wine,  revel- 
ings,  banquetings,  and  abominable  idolatries."  — 
I  Pete}'  iv.  3.  Let  these  testimonies  from  the 
Scriptures    suffice. 

3.  Conversational  Impurity.  This  includes  all 
manner  of  obscene  and  filthy  language,  unchaste 
suggestions,  libidinous  inuendo,  or  other  forms  of 
dissolute  speech,  whereby  lewd  and  sensual  prac- 
tices are  incited  and  encouraged.  "  O  generation 
of  vipers,"  cried  the  Master,  *'  how  can  ye,  being 
evil,  speak  good  things  1  for  out  of  the  abundance 
of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh."  '*  For  every  idle 
word  that  men  shall  speak,  they  shall  give  account 
at  the  day  of  judgement.  For  by  thy  words  thou 
shalt  be  justified,  and  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be 
condemned." — Matt.  xii.  34,  36.  37.  Paul  said, 
"Let  no  corrupt  communication  proceed  out  of 
your  mouth,  but  that  which  is  good  for  the  use  of 
edifying,  that  it  may  minister  good  to  the  hearers." 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  213 

**  Neither  filthiness  nor  foolish  talking  nor  jesting." 
"  And  have  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful  works 
of  darkness,  but  rather  reprove  them."  —  Eph.  iv. 
29;  V.  4,  II.  And  James:  **  If  any  man  offend  not 
in  word,  the  same  is  a  perfect  man,  able  also  to 
bridle  the  whole  body,"  "  The  tongue  is  a  fire,  a 
world  of  iniquity;  so  is  the  tongue  among  our  mem- 
bers that  it  defileth  the  whole  body  and  setteth  on 
fire  the  course  of  nature,  and  it  is  set  on  fire  of 
hell."  *'  Out  of  the  same  mouth  proceedeth  bless- 
ing and  cursing.  My  brethren,  these  things  ought 
not  so  to  be."  — James  iii.  2,  6,  10.  These  extracts 
will  sufifice  under  this  head. 

4.  Passional  Impurity.  This  includes  all  indul- 
gences of  excessive  passion,  inordinate  affection, 
and  highly  excited,  irrational  feeling.  It  may  con- 
sist in  cherishing  desires  and  lusts  which  are  evil 
in  themselves,  or  affections  and  emotions  essen- 
tially good  but  unduly  exercised  and  out  of  divine 
order  as  to  time,  place,  or  degree.  Primitive  Chris- 
tianity takes  cognizance  of  sins  not  only  outwardly 
committed,  but,  in  their  inception  or  inward  begin- 
ning, as  germs  of  wickedness  in  the  heart.  An 
unhallowed  picture  of  wrong  appears  before  the 
imagination  ;  gazing  upon  it  in  thought,  especially 
upon  its  attractive  features,  a  desire  to  commit  it  is 
awakened,  which,  being  fondled  and  nourished,  wins 
the  approval  of  the  will,  and  that  in  turn  determines 
the  course  of  sinful  action  to  be  pursued  in  the 
case.  The  sin  is  committed  in  desire  and  purpose 
before  it  becomes  an  accomplished  fact — an  overt 
act  amenable    to    open    rebuke    and    condemnation. 


214  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

Has  not  this  been  the  mode  of   procedure  with  all 
of  us  in  our  conscious  wrongful  deeds? 

But  a  great  many  vices  never  ultimate  in  out- 
ward acts,  for  want  of  opportunity  or  because 
repressed  by  circumstances.  Yet,  if  they  have  an 
abiding  place  in  cherished  desire,  and  are  hospita- 
bly entertained  by  the  thought  and  will,  they  are 
no  less  vices  than  if  allowed  to  assume  external 
form.  They  are  as  real  ;  I  do  not  say  as  heinous 
or  injurious.  And  we,  therefore,  should  be  thank- 
ful when  lack  of  opportunity  or  repressive  circum- 
stances prevent  us  from  committing  them  in  actual 
word  or  deed.  But  let  us  not  deem  ourselves  inno- 
cent and  free  from  condemnation  at  the  bar  of 
righteous  judgment  in  such  cases;  for  we  are  verily 
guilty  in  so  far  as  we  have  voluntarily  cherished 
the  desire,  the  thought,  the  will,  to  do  the  evil 
thing,  though  such  thought,  desire,  or  will  was 
never  actualized.  Nor  must  we  deem  ourselves 
cured  of  the  evil,  free  from  blame,  and  out  of  dan- 
ger from  it,  until  we  have  deeply  repented  of  it,  and 
thoroughly  overcome  it.  What  we  cannot  inno- 
cently consummate  in  external  action,  we  cannot 
innocently  contemplate,  purpose,  or  desire.  We 
must  silence  and  be  wholly  rid  of  the  thing  within 
before  we  can  be  exempt  from  condemnation  at  the 
judgment  seat  of  Christ.  This  is  the  plain  teach- 
ing of  the  Gospel,  as  my  texts  indicate,  and  it  is 
philosophically  sound  doctrine. 

Let  us  consider  then  that  it  is  a  most  laudable  am- 
bition and  a  great  attainment  to  be  pure  in  heart  — 
in  affection,  in  imagination,  in  will,  and   in   the  exer- 


AND   ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  215 

cise  of  every  emotion  resident  within  us.  And  let 
us  not  forget  that,  to  be  blameless  and  undefiled  in 
word  and  deed,  we  must  strive  especially  to  be  so 
within  ;  that  vice,  crime,  sin  must  be  nipped  in  the 
intentions  and  inclinations  that  govern  us  ;  that  we 
must  commence  the  work  of  ridding  ourselves  of 
evil  and  its  consequences  at  the  very  beginning  in 
our  own  breasts  if  we  would  succeed  in  accomplish- 
ing the  end  in  view.  We  may  not  wholly  prevent 
thoughts  of  evil  coming  to  us,  or  wrong  desires 
springing  up  within,  but  we  can  refuse  to  give 
them  hospitable  welcome  and  to  harbor  them  as 
acceptable  guests,  and  thus  nourish  them  till  they 
gain  supremacy  over  us.  Taken  early  and  firmly 
in  hand,  they  can  be  held  in  check  and  sooner  or 
later  completely  overcome,  enabling  us  to  realize  the 
full  meaning  of  the  beatitude  :  *'  Blessed  are  the 
pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God." 

5.  Spiritual  Impurity.  This  is  the  most  subtle 
and  dangerous  of  the  foes  to  man's  highest  well- 
being  of  which  this  discourse  treats.  It  relates  to 
and  includes  the  most  interior  and  intangible  prin- 
ciples and  passions  of  the  soul  perverted  and 
turned  from  their  proper  objects,  thus  working 
most  serious  mischief  and  misery.  "A  good  tree 
cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit  neither  can  a  corrupt 
tree  bring  forth  good  fruit." — Matt.  vii.  18.  "Unto 
them  that  are  defiled  and  unbelieving  is  nothing 
pure  ;  but  even  their  mind  and  conscience  is  defiled." 
—  Titus  \.  15.  The  other  kinds  of  impurity  named 
are  deplorable  enough,  but  spiritual  impurity  most 
so  of  all.     And  for   the   reason  that   it  lies  back  of 


216  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

and  beneath  the  others  in  the  remote  recesses  of 
the  nature  of  man,  and  is  constantly  sending  forth 
a  subtle,  debasing  influence,  almost  imperceptible 
but  potent  for  harm  to  the  character  and  life.  We 
all  have  some  deep  ruling  loves,  motives,  or  prin- 
ciples lying  back  of  all  sensation,  almost  back  of 
our  consciousness.  If  these  be  good  and  pure  we 
can  be  reformed  of  many  wrong  habits  or  practices 
with  tolerable  facility,  and  our  growth  in  grace  will 
be  correspondingly  easy  and  rapid  ;  but  if  they  are 
corrupt  and  vile  all  moral  and  spiritual  vitality  is 
in  jeopardy;  there  is  necessarily  in  us  an  essential 
lack  of  moral  principle,  stamina,  and  integrity,  as 
there  is  of  spiritual  healthfulness  and  vigor.  Let 
me  illustrate  what  I  mean.  Here  is  a  man  intel- 
lectually capable,  brilliant  perhaps,  but  with  a  poor 
or  perverted  conscience.  His  predominating  motives 
and  impulses  in  the  last  analysis  are  animal  and 
selfish,  yet  he  wears  an  appearance  of  respectabil- 
ity ;  is  possibly  a  successful,  even  a  religious  hypo- 
crite. He  is  governed  by  such  considerations  as 
are  formulated  in  the  following  apothegms  :  There 
is  no  such  thing  as  unconditioned  right  and  wrong  ; 
as  absolute  personal  responsibility ;  and  no  higher 
law  than  prudential  expediency.  Prevailing  custom, 
jHiblic  opinion,  the  civil  statute-book,  embody 
the  highest  rules  of  human  conduct.  The  appe- 
tites, passions,  and  propensities  of  human  nature 
must  be  allowed  large  liberty;  must  be  gratified 
more  or  less  at  pleasure,  regardless  of  what  are 
called  moral  laws.  Whatever  can  be  done  secretly 
or  openly  for  self-gratification  is  allowable,   and  the 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  217 

business  of  no  one  but  the  person  or  persons 
involved.  We  are  necessitated  to  act  as  we  do 
and  cannot  act  otherwise.  What  we  have  the  power 
to  do,  we  have  the  right  to  do ;  "  might  makes  right." 
"The  end  sanctifies  the  means."  Success  is  the 
test  of  truth  and  duty,  and  must  be  honored  accord- 
ingly. All  mankind  are  at  heart  selfish,  and  no 
one  person  is  better  than  another.  He  is  the 
wisest  man  who  looks  out  best  for  himself,  in  this 
world.  What  one  thinks,  purposes,  does,  by  him- 
self, cannot  be  sinful,  so  long  as  he  does  not 
express  or  act  it  to  another's  harm.  What  are 
called  crimes  or  sins  are  sometimes  necessary,  and 
therefore,  in  such  cases,  justifiable.  In  fact  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  absolute  truth,  or  intrinsic, 
unconditioned   morality. 

Now  all  these  and  kindred  opinions,  notions, 
tenets,  or  ideas  are  seldom  entertained  by  any  one 
person.  But  suppose  they  were  substantially  held 
by  the  man  in  question,  and  were  by  him  allowed 
to  mold  and  actuate  his  character  and  life.  Do 
you  not  see  that  there  would  be  in  him  a  fatal 
lack  of  moral  principle,  steadfastness,  and  honor,  as 
there  would  of  true  spiritual  vitality  and  healthful- 
ness.?  If  by  heredity,  education,  or  surrounding 
circumstances  he  chanced  to  be  a  decent  fellow, 
what  could  be  done  with  him  or  for  him  but  to  let 
him  go  his  own  way,  and  work  out  his  destiny  on 
his  own  lines,  only  to  find  himself  in  fatal  error  at 
the  last.  And  if  he  by  falling  into  evil  courses 
should  need  radical  reformation,  what  moral  appeals 
could  avail  anything  which  did  not  reach  and  reverse 


218  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY. 

his  controlling  ideas,  motives,  and  principles  —  which 
did  not  renovate  him  in  the  inmost  recesses  of  his 
soul  ? 

I  conclude  this  discourse  by  saying  that  Primitive 
Christianity  deprecates  and  prohibits  the  different 
kinds  of  corruption  enumerated,  and  enjoins  its  dis- 
ciples to  strive  after  Christlike  purity  in  all  things. 
Its  morality  in  this  matter  is  to  me  not  only 
supremely'rational  and  attractive,  but  pre-eminently 
calculated  to  promote  order,  virtue,  spirituality,  and 
happiness  among  men.  Wherefore  let  us  heed  the 
apostolic  exhortation,  "Be  thou  an  example  of  the 
believers,  in  word,  in  conversation,  in  charity,  in 
spirit,  in  faith,  in  purity." — i  Tim.  iv.  12.  "For 
the  grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salvation  hath 
appeared  to  all  men,  teaching  us  that  denying 
ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live  soberly, 
righteously,  and  godly  in  this  present  world.  Jesus 
Christ  having  given  himself  for  us,  that  he  might 
redeem  us  from  all  iniquity  and  purify  unto  himself 
a  peculiar  people  zealous  of  good  works." —  Titus 
ii.   11-14. 


DISCOURSE  XVI. 

ON    THE    FRIMITIVE    CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE 
CONCERNING    OATH-TAKING. 

"  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said  by  them  of  old 
time;  Thou  shalt  not  forswear  thyself,  but  shalt  perform 
unto  the  Lord  thine  oaths.  But  I  say  unto  you,  Swear  not 
at  all.'  — Afatt.  v.  33,  34. 

"  But  above  all  things,  my  brethren,  swear  not ;  neither  by 
heaven,  neither  by  the  earth,  neither  by  any  other  oath  ;  but 
let  your  yea  be  yea,  and  your  nay,  nay;  lest  ye  fall  into 
condemnation." — James  v.   12. 

These  passages  inculcate  a  special  duty  of  primi- 
tive Christian  morality — abstinence  from  oath- 
taking,  in  all  its  manifold  forms.  Christ  seems  not 
to  have  originated  this  virtue.  It  was  taught  and 
practiced  by  the  Essenes,  one  of  the  several  Jewish 
sects  ;  and  perhaps  by  some  other  moralists  of  tlie 
olden  time,  though  I  am  not  certain  on  this  point. 
But  no  matter.  Christ  made  it  a  part  of  his  moral 
code  by  adoption  and  unqualified  sanction,  and  it 
becomes  his  disciples  to  pay  it  respectful  obedience. 
In  discussing  the  reasonableness  and  wisdom  of 
this  prohibition,  let  us  inquire,  what  is  an  oath  ? 
What  is  its  alleged  use.?  How  did  it  originate.^ 
Did  Christ  prohibit  all  oath-taking  among  his  dis- 
ciples .'^     And  if  so,   why.? 


:220  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

I.  What  is  an  oath  ?  In  answering  this  ques- 
tion we  must  carefully  distinguish  between  the 
essential  characteristic  of  an  oath  and  the  several 
concomitants  necessarily  involved  or  implied  in  it; 
for  these  may  exist  without  any  oath,  but  no  oath 
without  them.  There  can  be  no  oath  without  a 
person  or  persons  to  take  it ;  without  some  other 
officially  authorized  person  or  persons  to  recognize 
it ;  without  an  occasion  for  the  administration  of  it  ; 
without  some  solemn,  obligatory  declaration  or 
promise  being  made ;  without  some  implied  doubt 
of  the  general  truthfulness  or  veracity  of  the  party 
or  parties  taking  the  oath ;  without  some  real  or 
supposed  judicial  and  retributive  power  appealed  or 
referred  to  in  the  form  of  adjuration  used;  nor 
without  some  fearful  calamity,  curse,  or  punishment 
invoked  or  imprecated  as  a  penalty  for  violating 
the  given  promise  or  declaration.  This  last  speci- 
fication alone  embodies  the  essentially  distinctive 
characteristic  of  an  oath.  The  other  named  requi- 
sites or  concomitants  of  an  oath  may  exist,  but 
without  the  last  there  is  only  a  simple  assertion 
or  pledge  of  obligation,  not  an  oath.  That,  in  fact, 
constitutes  the  oath. 

The  essential  oath  then  consists  in  an  imprecation 
from  some  retributive  power  of  a  fearful  calamity, 
curse,  or  punishment,  to  be  inflicted  on  the  person  or 
persons  making  a  specified  declaration  or  promise,  if 
such  declaration  or  promise  prove  false  or  contrary 
to  the  truth.  The  retributive  power  invoked  in  any 
-case  may  be  God,  the  gods,  nature,  angels,  spirits, 
or    men    in    authority,    and    the    penalty,    curse,    or 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  221 

calamity  impending,  must  be  deemed  fearful  enough 
to  overcome  all  temptations  or  inducements  to  pre- 
varication or  falsehood.  The  form  of  imprecation 
employed  in  the  customary  judicial  oath  is,  "So 
help  me  God  ";  which,  as  interpreted  by  the  highest 
legal  tribunals,  means,  "May  God  withdraw  all  favor 
from  me  and  consign  me  to  the  doom  of  an  utter 
reprobate,  if  I  testify  or  promise  falsely  in  the 
matter  under  consideration  " ;  in  other  words  "  I 
stake  all  my  hopes  of  divine  mercy,  grace,  and 
salvation  upon  my  truthfulness  in  the  present  case." 
Multitudes  of  people  are  ignorant  of  the  real  signi- 
ficance of  the  invocation,  "So  help  me  God";  sup- 
posing it  to  mean  simply  ••'  May  God  help  me  to  be 
truthful  in  what  I  say,"  which  would  seem  to  be 
correct  from  a  superficial  thought  of  the  subject, 
and  by  simply  regarding  the  form  of  words  employed. 
But  any  intelligent  jurist  will  inform  them  of  their 
error  —  will  tell  them  that  the  innocent-lookins: 
phrase  is  a  most  fearful  imprecation  of  divine  ven- 
geance —  the  calling  on  God  for  utter  and  ever- 
lasting condemnation,  if  "  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth "  be  not  spoken. 
Such  is  the  meaning  given  to  the  phrase  in  question 
by  the  united  jurisprudence  of  Christendom,  and  the 
eminent  moral  philosopher,  Dr.  Francis  Wayland,  for- 
merly of  Brown  University,  says  that  its  purpose  is 
"  to  imprecate  upon  ourselves  the  absence  of  the 
favor  of  God,  and,  of  course,  all  possible  misery 
forever."  Nevertheless,  the  prescribed  oath  in  any 
given  case  is  so  much  a  matter  of  form,  and  is 
administered  both   by  the    courts    and    by  the   ordi- 


222  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

nary  magistrate  in  such  an  off-hand,  frivolous  man- 
ner, that  few  who  take  it  stop  to  consider  whether 
or  not  it  is  anything  more  than  a  legal  technicality, 
to  be  observed  because  prescribed  in  the  statute, 
but  to  be  gone  through  with  as  speedily  and  indif- 
ferently as  possible.  It  ought  not  to  be  so,  but  so 
it  is  in   practical  life. 

Oaths  are  generally  classed  as  judicial,  extra- 
judicial, and  profane.  Those  prescribed  by  civil 
governments  are  called  judicial.  Those  adminis- 
tered under  the  authority  of  voluntary  associations, 
secret  societies,  and  by  individuals  in  private  life, 
are  termed  extra-judicial.  While  common  oaths, 
those  used  more  or  less  thoughtlessly  and  recklessly 
in  the  ordinary  intercourse  of  life  ;  as  heard  in  the 
street,  saloon,  office,  or  elsewhere  among  the  vulgar 
and  irreverent,  are  designated  as  profane.  But  all 
kinds  of  oaths  agree  in  the  one  distinctive  charac- 
teristic, implied  or  involved  —  the  imprecation  of 
some  harm,  curse,  calamity,  or  vengeance  upon  the 
person  or  persons  to  whom  the  oath  applies  or  is 
related.  For  this  reason  especially,  as  well  as  for 
others  to  be  enumerated,  they  are  condemned  and 
prohibited  -by  the  pure  morality  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ. 

How  then  is  it,  the  question  may  be  asked,  with 
what  is  termed  the  affirmation  —  a  substitute  for 
the  oath  often  used  by  persons  of  conscientious 
scruples  regarding  the  matter.  This  first  came  into 
vogue  by  enactment  of  the  English  Parliament  under 
William  III.  in  1796,  as  a  concession  to  the  rising 
religious    party    termed    Friends    or    Quakers,    who 


AND   ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  223 

absolutely  refused  to  take  an  oath  for  conscience' 
sake,  and  who  suffered  many  disabilities  and  wrongs 
and  much  persecution  on  that  account.  They  were 
quite  willing  to  acknowledge  submission  to  the  civil 
government  of  their  country,  but  nothing  would 
induce  them  to  swear  allegiance  to  it  or  to  take 
any  other  form  of  oath.  It  was  finally  proposed 
that  they  should  make  a  simple  affirmation,  subject 
to  "the  pains  and  penalties  of  perjury,"  in  cases 
where  the  oath  was  administered  to  other  people. 
To  this  proposition  they  gave  their  assent,  and  an 
act  of  Parliament  was  passed  accordingly.  In  our 
country  any  one  having  a  conscience  against  the 
oath  may  make  affirmation  instead,  the  favor  not 
being  restricted  to  Friends  alone.  Personally,  I 
always  insist  on  this  privilege.  The  affirmation  is 
not  free  from  objections,  but  it  is  in  no  proper 
sense  an  oath,  and  is  far  preferable  to  it.  It  impre- 
cates no  divine  wrath  or  vengeance  upon  one  guilty 
of  untruthfulness,  though  it  acknowledges  the  right- 
fulness of  heavy  legal  penalties  for  that  offence,  and 
of  course,  liability  to  suffer  them  if  the  offence  be 
committed.  There  is  a  kind  of  absurdity,  however, 
in  formally  requiring  this  acknowledgment  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  customary  imprecation,  inasmuch  as 
all  governments  claim  and  exercise  the  prerogative 
of  inflicting  punishment  in  such  cases,  and  Chris- 
tians are  bound  by  their  religion  to  render  them 
peaceful  submission  in  this  as  in  other  respects. 
The  time  is  coming,  no  doubt,  when  the  govern- 
ments of  all  civilized  nations  will  be  wise  and 
humane    enough    to    lay  aside    all    such    lumbering 


224  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

forms  as  oaths  and  affirmations,  and  simply  hold  their 
subjects  penally  responsible  for  false  declarations  and 
promises,  according  to  the  nature  and  aggravation 
of  the  offence.  But  that  era  of  reason  and  com- 
mon sense  is  yet  far  away  in  the  future.  Meantime 
the  affirmation  can  be  taken  by  those  resolved  to 
be  obedient  to  their  confessed  Master  in  this  matter, 
as  a  form  essentially  free  from  the  abominations  of 
an  oath. 

2.  What  is  the  alleged  use,  object,  or  design  of 
an  oath  ?  This  requires  but  a  brief  answer;  viz.:  — 
to  secure  truthfulness  in  cases  of  serious  impor- 
tance—  veracity  in  giving  testimony  or  making 
declaration,  and  fidelity  in  the  fulfilment  of  prom- 
ises, engagements,  and  obligations.  From  the  earli- 
est times  and  as  incidental  to  a  morally  low  order 
of  individual  and  social  life,  fear  has  been  deemed 
the  most  powerful  motive  which  could  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  human  nature  for  the  purpose  of 
gaining  desirable  results,  and  especially  the  fear  of 
God,  of  supernatural  beings,  or  of  vengeance  in  some 
form  from  the  invisible  world.  Next  to  these  objects 
of  fear,  the  calamities  of  physical  nature,  the  visita- 
tions of  misfortune,  and  the  inflictions  of  powerful 
men  —  rulers,  magistrates,  etc. —  invested  with  the 
assumed  right  to  destroy  life,  have  been  employed 
to  awaken  the  same  sentiment  in  the  human  breast. 
The  oath  is  based  on  such  sentiment — on  super- 
stitions and  semi-barbarous  fears.  It  is  the  product 
of  superstition  and  barbarism.  Where  these  have 
been  outgrown  its  usefulness  ceases ;  it  is  either 
trifled  with  or  conformed  to  from   mere  custom,  or 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  225 

abhorred  as  pernicious.  It  was  for  long  ages 
assumed,  and  perhaps  still  is  by  many  people,  that 
maledictions  and  punishments,  solemnly  invoked  in 
confirmation  of  one's  truthfulness,  not  only  impend 
over  the  guilty  but  are  quite  likely  to  be  inflicted, 
sooner  or  later.  Therefore  the  more  fearful  the 
evil  imprecated,  the  stronger  the  assurance  of 
the  imprecator's  sincerity  and  trustworthiness.  The 
more  fearful  the  oath,  the  more  reliable  the  witness  ; 
the  harder  the  swearing,  the  more  credible  the  testi- 
mony. Consequently  no  one  was  to  be  trusted 
where  anything  of  importance  was  at  stake  with- 
out an  oath.  It  is  no  wonder  under  these  circum- 
stances that  oaths  were  multiplied  indefinitely,  till 
used  in  every  pettifogging  law-suit  and  to  qualify 
the  lowest  public  functionaries.  No  wonder  that  so 
many  generations  of  mongrel  Christians  have  believed 
that  for  a  man  to  pledge  all  his  hopes  of  God's 
favor  in  time  and  eternity  and  to  imprecate  on 
himself  everlasting  damnation  if  guilty,  was  the 
most  perfect  guaranty  of  his  honesty  and  truthful- 
ness !     Alas  for  human   folly  and  superstition! 

3.  The  origin  of  oaths.  They  antedate  all  history 
and  all  known  development  of  civilization,  even  the 
rudest.  They  were  invented  by  none  of  the  famous 
legislators  whose  names  have  come  down  from 
remote  antiquity ;  all  of  whom  found  them  in  use 
among  men  and  merely  accepted  them  as  indis- 
pensable, with  such  modifications  as  they  deemed 
it  wise  to  make.  We  can  trace  them  to  prehistoric 
times  and  may  with  probability  conjecture  that  they 
are  coeval  with  the  oldest  superstitions  of  our  race. 


226  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

As  soon  as  men  began  to  believe  in  terrible,  avenging, 
supernatural  powers,  they  might  naturally  invent  the 
oath  as  a  warrant  for  truthfulness.  But  precisely 
how  this  was  we  have  no  certain  knowledge,  but 
must  be  content  to  presume  that  the  oath  originated 
as  indicated,  in  the  twilight  of  human  history, 
whence  it  gradually  came  into  the  usage  of  suc- 
ceeding generations  and  of  all  nations. 

4.  Why  did  Christ  prohibit  the  use  of  the  oath 
among  his  disciples  ?  No  reasons  are  given  but  we 
can  deduce  them  with  tolerably  certainty  from  the 
fundamental  principles  of  his  Gospel.  In  the  nature 
of  things,  oaths  are  repugnant  to  the  genius  of 
Christianity,  which  proclaims  God  a  Father,  man  a 
brother,  and  the  supremacy  of  a  love  that  blesses 
and  curses  not.  Under  such  conceptions  oath-tak- 
ing must  be  regarded  as  objectionable  and  wrong: 
( I  )  Because  it  is  a  slavish  superstition,  based 
on  irrational  fear  and  imaginary  divine  cruelty. 
( 2 )  Because  it  is  presumptuous  in  man  to  prescribe 
vengeful  punishment  for  his  own  sins  or  those  of 
his  fellow-men.  He  does  not  know  the  nature  or 
amount  of  punishment  requisite  in  any  given  case.  It 
is,  therefore,  reprehensibly  rash  and  arrogant  for  him 
to  prejudge  and  solicit  retribution  —  above  all  divine 
vengeance  —  for  offences  against  the  moral  law. 
Yet  oath-taking  involves  such  unwarrantable  assump- 
tion of  judicial  wisdom  —  a  prerogative  belonging  to 
God  alone.  ( 3  )  Because  it  is  irreverent  and  impi- 
ous towards  God  to  call  on  Him  to  visit  with  out- 
pourings of  indignation  and  wrath  any  wrong-doers 
or  violators  of  His  holy  law  ;  implying  thereby  that 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  227 

he  will    not    judge    righteously  and  execute  punish- 
ment impartially  in  the  administration  of  His  divine 
government.     The    oath    presupposes    that   He  can 
and  will  be  advised  and  directed  in  certain  contin- 
gencies   by    the    imploration    of    human    ignorance, 
folly,   and  superstition.     The  absurdity  of  such  pro- 
ceeding is  as  glaring  as  it  is  impious.      (4)  Because 
oath-taking  makes  truthfulness  on  special  occasions 
and  upon  particular  matters  all-important,  but  truth- 
fulness as  a  primary  and    universal   virtue    of    very 
little    account.      When    under    oath    men    must    be 
truthful  because  the  most  solemn  and  awful  impre- 
cations   are    hanging    over    them.       But    when    not 
under  oath  they  may  lie  and   deceive  with   compar- 
ative   impunity ;    at    least  with    little    apprehension 
of  divine  condemnation,  as  none  has  been  formally 
invoked.     This    is    virtually  setting    at    naught    the 
sacred   obligation    to    speak    the    truth  at  all  times, 
and    playing    fast    and    loose   with   moral    principle. 
It  is   adopting   a    slip-shod    morality,  hostile  to  the 
genius   of  the  religion  of    Christ.     Under  that   reli- 
gion, every  *'yea"    and  "nay"  must  be  as  sacredly 
kept  as  an  oath.     (  5  )   Because  oath-taking,  although 
it  may  insure  greater  veracity  and  credibility  among 
the  ignorant  and  unprincipled,  tends  to  corrupt  the 
public   conscience  and  to  vitiate  the  sense    of   obli- 
gation always  to  speak  the    truth  among  the  masses 
of    mankind.     If    men    are    to    put    under    oath    in 
order  to  be  believed,  who    is    likely  to    be    truthful 
otherwise  ?     Or  whose  word  is  to  be  trusted  if    he 
who  utters    it    be    not    sworn  ?     Oath-taking  always 
did,!and  always  will  educate    men    to    be    unscrupu- 


228  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

lous  in  common  life,  and  weaken  confidence  in  the 
ordinary  utterances  and  statements  of  human  inter- 
course and  acquaintanceship.  Whereas,  according- 
to  the  teaching  and  spirit  of  Christ,  one's  word 
should  forever  be  as  reliable  as  his    oath    or    bond. 

(6)  The  oath,  while  often  a  sham  and  an  offence  to 
the  honest  and  upright,  becomes  ''sheep's  clothing" 
or  a  *' scape-goat  "  to  the  unscrupulous  and  hypo- 
critical—  a  mere  spider's  web.  How  many  timid, 
inexperienced  witnesses  have  been  disconcerted, 
confused,  and  broken  down  by  a  skilful  manipula- 
tion of  its  terrors !  How  many  brazen  charlatans 
have  imposed  their  falsehoods  upon  a  court  under 
its  sanction,  defeated  justice,  and  defrauded  the 
innocent  of  their  rightful  dues  !  How  many  honest, 
conscientious  people  have  lost  what  justly  belonged 
to  them  because  they  would  not  swear  at  all  or 
swear  falsely !  How  many  self-seeking,  unprinci- 
pled men  have  been  sworn  into  ofifice  the  duties  of 
which  they  never  intended  to  perform  !  The  more 
unscrupulous  a  man  is,  the  more  ready  is  he  to 
swear  to  anything  for  his  own  gain.  Those  familiar 
with  judicial  ofBce-holding,  and  revenue  collecting 
affairs  will  tell  you  how  little  reliance  can  be  placed 
upon  oaths.  Experienced  men  of  sound  judgment 
seeking  the  ends  of  justice  in  any  case  rely  far 
more  upon  the  substantial  and  known  credibility  of 
a  witness  or    promiser    than    upon   his  formal  oath. 

(7)  Because  oath-taking,  as  maintained  by  law, 
leads  to  profane  swearing  and  the  manifold  abuses 
and  improprieties  connected  therewith.  If  men 
may  invoke  God's  wrath  and  curse  in   stately  form 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  229 

on  solemn  occasions,  why  not  in  everyday  life  and 
in  the  common  intercourse  of  man  with  man  ?  So 
it  seems  to  have  been  with  the  Jews  in  Christ's 
time.  Their  profanities  were  numerous.  They 
swore  by  heaven,  by  the  earth,  by  the  temple,  by 
the  altar,  and  some  by  their  own  heads.  More- 
over, Rabbinical  casuistry  could  create  nice  distinc- 
tions and  subtle  evasions  whereby  the  crafty  could 
pretend  to  make  oath  to  anything  while  being  in 
fact  bound  to  nothing.  That  oath-taking  in  one 
form  or  another  was  a  prevailing  habit  in  the  early 
Christian  days  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that 
Peter,  though  called  to  be  an  apostle,  in  his  confu- 
sion and  agitation  caused  by  the  repeated  charge 
of  companionship  with  the  accused  Jesus,  "denied 
it  with  an  oath"  and  "began  to  curse  and  to  swear, 
saying,  *I  know  not  the  man.'"  For  these  seven 
and  kindred  reasons  which  I  need  not.  pause  to 
specify,  it  is  obvious  that  such  a  Christ  and  such  a 
Christianity  as  we  have  portrayed  in  the  New 
Testament,  must,  in  the  very  nature  of  things, 
morally  considered,  be  utterly  opposed  to  oath- 
taking,  and  in  principle  and  spirit,  as  well  as  in 
verbal  form,  must  have  put  it  under  perpetual  and 
unqualified  prohibition. 

5.  But  did  Jesus  intend  to  forbid  all  oath-taking 
in  his  teaching  upon  the  subject }  Without  doubt. 
His  language  is  inclusive  and  sweeping,  making  no 
exceptions  and  admitting  of  none.  Take  note  of  it. 
"Swear  not  at  all\  neither  by  heaven,  for  it  is 
God's  throne  ;  nor  by  the  earth,  for  it  is  his  footstool  ; 
nor  by  Jerusalem,  for    it    is    the    city  of    the    great 


230  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

king ;  neither  shalt  thou  swear  by  thy  head,  because 
thou  canst  not  make  one  hair  white  or  black."  And 
James,  reiterating  the  injunction,  adds;  ''Neither  by 
any  other  oath,"  showing  how  universal  and  abso- 
lute were  the  Saviour's  words,  as  he,  one  of  his 
chosen  teachers,  understood  them.  Yet  some  have 
childishly  pleaded  that  Christ  could  not  have  in- 
cluded sacred  and  judicial  oaths,  such  as  Moses 
sanctioned  and  civil  governments  prescribe,  but 
only  false,  profane  swearing.  The  groundlessness 
of  their  plea  is  made  apparent  by  noticing  his 
mode  of  introducing  the  subject.  "Ye  have  heard 
that  it  hath  been  said  by  them  of  olden  time,  Thou 
shalt  not  forswear  thyself  but  shalt  perform  unto 
the  Lord  thine  oaths ;  but  I  say  unto  you,  Swear 
not  at  all."  He  refers  to  sacred  and  judicial  oath- 
taking  as  approved  and  practiced  by  Moses  and 
the  ancient  law-givers  only  to  condemn  and  utterly 
prohibit  it,  teaching  a  higher  morality,  that  of  not 
swearing  at  all.  They  forbade  false-swearing  and 
common  profanity  ;  he  everything  of  the  nature  of 
an  oath.  He  was  not  simply  repeating  and  empha- 
sizing their  requirement,  but  proclaiming  a  more 
exalted  and  comprehensive  one,  as  his  language 
plainly  proves;  to  wit:  abstinence  from  oath-taking 
of  every  kind  and  name.  What  confuses  many 
people  is  the  difficulty  of  applying  this  prohibition 
to  the  affairs  of  civil  government  as  now  consti- 
tuted. The  difficulty  will  disappear  as  civil  govern- 
ments become  Christianized  —  rise  to  the  moral 
plane  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  On  a  lower 
plane  their  action  in   this  as  in  other   respects  will 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  231 

be  controlled  by  maxims,  customs,  and  principles 
more  or  less  antagonistic,  or  at  least  inferior  to  those 
derived  from  the  New  Testament.  But  professed 
followers  of  Jesus  —  those  taking  him  for  their 
leader  are  under  sacred  obligation  to  observe  and 
obey  in  consistent  loyalty  the  precept,  ''Swear  not 
at  all."  Civil  society  and  organized  governments 
will  attain  to  the  same  high  standard  at  some  future 
date  and  stage  of  progress. 

Another  groundless  plea  in  opposition  to  this 
sweeping  interpretation  and  application  of  the 
Saviour's  teaching  upon  this  matter  is  that  he 
himself  took  a  judicial  oath  when  brought  before 
Caiaphas  the  high  priest  and  adjured  by  that  func- 
tionary to  tell  whether  or  not  "  he  was  the  Christ, 
the  son  of  God."  To  that  adjuration  he  replied, 
"Thou  hast  said,"  the  equivalent  of  an  affirmative 
answer.  Now  granting  that  the  question  forced 
upon  Jesus  was  in  the  form  of  an  oath,  the  answer 
he  gave  in  no  wise  implicated  him.  He  was  not 
in  the  least  degree  responsible  for  what  Caiaphas 
said.  He  had  put  a  question  in  his  own  way.  He 
imposed  no  oath  upon  the  accused.  He  exacted 
from  him  no  appeal  to  God,  no  imprecations  of 
divine  wrath  in  any  contingency.  He  asked  his 
question  in  the  most  imperative  manner  known  to 
him.  Jesus  answered  in  a  calm,  dignified  spirit, 
as  became  him,  virtually  declaring  the  truth  and 
representing  himself  to  the  high  priest  and  his 
accusers  in  his  true  light,  without  evasion,  prevari- 
cation, or  fear,  though  he  knew  that  death  awaited 
his  reply.     His  action  and  bearing  were  in  keeping 


232  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

with  his  whole  sublime  character,  and  furnish  not 
the  slightest  warrant  for  assuming  that  there  was 
in  his  mind  any  exception  to  his  general  sweeping 
prohibition  of  oath-taking. 

Such  then  is  the  morality  of  Primitive  Christianity 
in  relation  to  the  subject  discussed  in  the  present 
discourse.  The  doctrine  inculcated  is  to  my  mind 
pure,  elevated,  and  surpassingly  admirable,  and  I 
am  amazed  at  the  fact  in  religious  history  that, 
since  the  days  of  Constantine  in  the  fourth  century, 
only  little  groups  of  professed  Christians  scattered 
here  and  there  through  many  lands  have  been  true 
to  it.  Nevertheless,  I  feel  sure  that  the  number  of 
learned  and  exemplary  men  and  women,  as  well  as 
of  those  less  learned  though  equally  exemplary, 
who  have  acknowledged  and  reverenced  this  Gospel 
requirement,  has  been  slowly  increasing  for  the  last 
three  hundred  years  and  must  go  on  increasing 
until  the  odious,  unchristian  practice  shall  be  num- 
bered with  manifold  other  products  of  ignorance, 
superstition,  and  barbarism  which  have  no  longer  a 
place  among  the  established  habits,  customs,  and 
institutions  of  civilized  man.  Meanwhile  let  those 
who  have  risen  to  a  just  conception  of  the  primi- 
tive Christian  doctrine  touching  the  matter  in 
review  and  are  resolved  to  follow  the  Master  whither- 
soever he  may  lead  them,  as  sincere  disciples,  be 
faithful  to  their  light  with  an  unwavering  assurance 
that   "truth   is  mighty  and  will   prevail." 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  233 

Shall  we  who  bear  the  Christian  name 

And  vows  of  love  and  fealty  make, 
Without  disquietude  or  shame 

Presume  an  oath  to  give  or  take? 

Behold  in  every  Christian  land, 

Barbaric  customs  still  abound  ; 
Still  set  at  naught  is  Christ's  command, 

With  odious  oaths  the  airs  resound. 

May  we  no  baneful  flood  augment, 

Nor  help  to  swell  corruption's  tide  ; 
But,  with  a  loyalty  intent. 

Be  faithful  to  our  heavenly  guide. 


DISCOURSE   XVII. 

ON    THE    PBIMITIVE    CHBISTIAN  DOCTBINE 
CONCEBNING  PBOPEBTY. 

"  But  seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteous- 
ness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you." — Matt. 
vi.  33- 

The  design  of  this  discourse  is  to  present  a  clear 
and  truthful  exposition  of  the  primitive  Christian 
morality  in  respect  to  property  —  its  acquisition,  use, 
and  disposal,  in  the  rightful  ordering  of  human  life 
upon  the  earth.  On  this  point  the  teachings  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles  have  been  very  imperfectly 
understood.  The  doctrine  embodied  in  them  is 
peculiar  and  peculiarly  excellent,  as  I  propose  to 
show.  As  with  other  themes  discussed  by  me,  so 
with  this;  we  will  begin  at  the  foundation. 

First,  then,  what  is  property.?  We  all  have  a 
general  idea  of  what  it  is,  but  let  us  be  definite  and 
accurate  in  replying  to  this  question.  The  word 
property  has  various  meanings.  In  the  present 
investigation,  however,  it  is  to  be  used  exclusively 
in  its  pecuniary  or  monetary  sense,  as  representing 
whatever  is  subject  to  ownership — as  possessing  an 
appreciable,  transferable,  marketable  value.  In  this 
sense  anything  and  everything  having  monetary 
worth    and    capable    of     being    exchanged    for    an 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY.  235 

assumed  equivalent  —  anything  and  everything  that 
can  be  bought,  sold,  loaned,  given,  taken,  and  made 
serviceable  to  the  necessity,  comfort,  or  enjoyment 
of  mankind,  is  property.  It  may  belong  to  any  one 
of  the  great  kingdoms  of  material  nature  ;  it  may 
belong  to  one  person  exclusively,  or  jointly  to  two 
or  more  persons,  or  it  may  be  held  in  common  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  any  considerable  number  of 
persons,  however  associated.  I  need  not  be  more 
specific ;  the  definition  given  being  sufficiently 
explicit  and  comprehensive  for  the  purpose  now 
in  view. 

In  what  does  the  intrinsic  and  absolute  value  of 
property  consist  ?  Obviously  in  its  ability  to  pro- 
duce, procure,  or  furnish  some  substantial  good  ; 
some  wholesome,  innocent  satisfaction  and  pleasure 
to  the  body,  mind,  or  heart  of  man.  One  might 
own  all  the  world  but  if  he  could  derive  no 
real  benefit  from  it  and  get  no  happiness  out  of  it, 
it  would  be  of  no  worth  to  him  ;  perhaps  an  intoler- 
able burden.  Or,  if  he  so  misused  or  abused  it 
as  to  render  it  a  bane  rather  than  a  blessing  to 
himself  and  others,  its  possession  would  be  worse 
than  worthless  —  a  positive  nuisance  or  curse. 

And  now  having  stated  what  property  is  and  in 
what  its  absolute  value  consists,  we  will  inquire  how 
Christ  regarded  its  ownership  and  use,  and  what 
directions  he  gave  or  the  principles  of  his  religion 
suggest  and  require  in  respect  to  its  accumulation 
and  distribution.  Did  he  ignore  the  subject  of 
property  as  something  with  which  he  and  his 
religion  had  nothing  to  do,  leaving  his    disciples  to 


"236  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

act  in  reference  to  it  as  seemed  to  them  best  ? 
Certainly  not;  for  his  precepts  concerning  it  were 
neither  few  nor  indefinite.  Did  he  assume  that 
there  was  no  such  thing  as  property,  as  some 
reformers  have  taught,  and  no  rights  of  ownership, 
individual  or  combined?  By  no  means;  for  he  told 
the  young  man  coming  to  him  for  instruction  con- 
cerning the  eternal  life  what  to  do  with  his  great 
possessions.  Did  he  denounce  all  property  as  evil 
or  unnecessary.'^  No;  for  he  said  ''Your  heavenly 
Father  knoweth  ye  have  need  of  these  things " — 
food,  raiment,  and  such-like  articles  of  common  use 
belonging  to  the  category  of  property.  He,  without 
doubt,  recognized  the  fact  of  property  and  the  right 
of  holding  it,  but  put  it,  in  his  plan  of  human  life, 
under  strict  supervision  and  regulation.  He  used 
intensive  forms  of  speech  concerning  this,  as  con- 
cerning other  subjects,  which  are  to  be  interpreted 
and  applied  as  reason  and  common  sense  dictate  and 
in  the  light  of  his  general  teaching  and  example. 
The  passage  in  King  James'  version  of  the  New 
Testament,  "Take  no  thought  for  your  life,"  etc., 
by  a  more  rational,  if  not  a  more  literal  render- 
ing, reads,  "  Be  not  over-anxious  for  your  life," 
etc.  The  precept  condemns  distrustful,  feverish 
solicitude  and  fear,  not  calm,  rational  forethought 
and  wise  provision  for  coming  needs.  The  young 
man  referred  to,  inquiring  the  way  of  the  eternal  life, 
was  told  that  if  he  would  be  perfect  he  must  sell 
what  he  had  and  give  to  the  poor.  But  this  was 
only  a  special  case  and  the  requirement  was  the 
touch-stone    of    the    )oung    man's    selfishness  —  for 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  23T 

this  was  his  prevailing  sin  — and  was  never  designed 
to  be  the  universal  rule  for  those  seeking  to  follow 
Christ  in  all  sincerity  and  faithfulness.  It  is  no- 
where else  enjoined  in  all  the  Scripture  record, 
though  a  generous,  large-hearted  liberality  and  relief 
of  the  poor  and  needy  are  enjoined  repeatedly,  and 
made  of  essential  importance.  That  Jesus  did  not 
intend  to  be  understood  as  teaching  the  universal 
duty  of  using  one's  entire  possessions  for  the  good 
and  happiness  of  mankind,  and  was  not  so  under- 
stood by  his  associates,  is  plainly  shown  by  the  fact 
that  several  of  those  associates  —  Peter,  Matthew,. 
and  John  especially — 'had  homes  of  their  own  and 
without  doubt  the  usual  appurtenances  of  domestic 
life,  with  possibly  other  property ;  deeming  them- 
selves in  no  wise  untrue  to  their  Lord  on  that 
account  and  receiving  no  rebuke  from  him  therefor. 
No.  The  intensive  forms  of  speech  often  used  by 
Jesus  and  other  Scripture  personages  are  not  to  be 
strained  to  their  utmost  and  taken  in  their  baldest,, 
most  literal  sense,  but  are  to  be  construed  and 
understood,  I  repeat,  by  the  reason  and  common 
sense  of  thoughtful  men  and  women,  in  harmony 
with  the  essential  spirit  and  principles  of  the  Gospel 
as  contained  in  the  general  teachings  and  exempli- 
fied in  the  life  of  the  Founder  of  the  Christian  faith.. 
Otherwise  we  make  nonsense  of  some  of  the  sub- 
limest  doctrines  of  Christianity  and  fall  into  confusion 
and  serious  error  concerning  what  is  most  vital  to 
our  holy  religion  and  to  the  well-being  and  happiness 
of  mankind.  And  in  the  matter  before  us,  let  us. 
remember  that   we  can  give   all  we   have,   including 


238  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

ourselves,  for  the  good  of  humanity,  in  ways  that 
shall  enlighten,  reform,  elevate,  and  save  them,  with- 
out impoverishing  ourselves  and  depriving  ourselves 
of  the  means  of  further  helpfulness  in  the  world. 

That  Christ  and  his  apostles  never  questioned  the 
rightfulness  of  owning,  managing,  and  disposing  of 
property,  is  further  attested  by  the  fact  that  all  their 
precepts  regarding  the  use  of  worldly  possessions 
pre-suppose  such  rightfulness.  Moreover,  their 
injunctions  against  covetousness  and  mammon-wor- 
ship, and  their  exhortations  to  charity  and  liberal 
giving,  necessarily  imply  the  same  thing.  In  that 
palmy  day  of  brotherly  love  when  the  disciples  "  had 
all  things  in  common,"  the  treasury  was  supplied  by 
individuals  selling  what  they  pleased  of  their  belong- 
ings and  contributing  the  whole  or  part  of  the 
proceeds  as  they  deemed  best.  Whatever  was  so 
collected  was  not  given,  nor  was  it  asked,  on  the 
ground  that  those  in  possession  of  it  had  no  right 
to  it,  or  that  it  was  a  sin  to  retain  it.  Ananias  and 
Sapphira  were  not  condemned  for  keeping  back  a 
part  of  their  property,  but  for  lying  about  it.  Peter 
plainly  said  to  them,  "  While  it  remained,  was  it  not 
thine  own,  and  after  it  was  sold,  was  it  not  in  thine 
own  power  ?  " 

Again :  Did  Christ  and  his  apostles  ever  prescribe 
how  and  by  whom  property  should  be  owned  and 
managed  ;  whether  by  individuals,  by  joint  tenants, 
or  by  tenants  in  common  ?  Never  ;  but  wisely  left 
the  matter  to  the  judgment  and  choice  of  each  and 
every  individual  owner  of  property  to  the  end  of 
time,  as    a   question    of   prudential    expediency,   not 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  239 

of  absolute  moral  principle.  For  some  people  it 
may  be  best  for  themselves  and  for  humanity  to  be 
individual  proprietors;  for  others,  joint  partners; 
for  others,  co-operative  share-holders  ;  and  for  still 
others,  proprietors  in  common  or  communistic  own- 
ers. I  am  a  decided  Associationist,  not  because  of 
any  arbitrary  moral  obligation  or  necessity  impelling 
thereto,  not  because  there  is  any  natural  or  moral 
wrong  in  individual  ownership,  but  on  grounds  of 
wise  expediency  for  those  prepared  for  it,  as  a 
means  of  elevating  humanity  and  bringing  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

What  then  is  the  primitive  Christian  morality  in 
its  relation  to  property  ?     As  taught  by  Christ  it  is 

1.  That  all  property,  being  supplied  to  mankind 
originally  by  divine  Providence,  should  be  subject  to 
the  divine  law  —  the  supreme  moral  law  of  justice, 
charity,  and  brotherhood. 

2.  That  property  must  never  be  worshiped, 
idolized,  or  allowed  to  stand  first  in  human  esteem 
as  preferable  to  God,  man,  or  duty.  It  must  not 
be  desired,  acquired,  used,  or  disposed  of,  contrary 
to  the  divine  moral   law. 

3.  That  property  must  not  be  deemed  precious 
/t'r  se,  or  valued  merely  for  its  own  sake,  but  solely 
for  the  good  uses  to  which  it  may  be  devoted  —  for 
what  it  may  be  the  means  of  doing  to  satisfy  the 
necessities  and  promote  the  improvement,  comfort, 
and  happiness  of  the  human  race. 

4.  That  all  property  must  be  deemed  consecrated 
to  innocent,  lawful,  and  beneficent  purposes,  accord- 
ing to  the   highest   light  of    those  in    possession  of 


240  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

it,    and    used    for    such    purposes    judiciously    and 
ungrudgingly. 

5.  That  the  mere  possession  of  property,  how- 
ever innocently  acquired,  confers  no  right  to  expend 
or  appropriate  it  contrary  to  the  perfect  law  of 
justice  and  love;  that  is,  for  any  improper,  wrong, 
or  evil  purpose. 

6.  That  great  riches  are  morally  dangerous  to 
those  possessing  them  and  oppressive  to  the  poorer 
classes ;  and  that  the  voluntary  avoidance  of  exces- 
sive wealth  by  donation,  in  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice 
for  the  advancement  of  any  holy  cause,  the  doing  of 
any  philanthropic  work,  or  the  prosecution  of  any 
enterprise  which  a  sense  of  duty  suggests,  is  pre- 
eminently advisable  and  praiseworthy. 

These  propositions  seem  to  me  plainly  deducible 
from  the  following  and  other  testimonies  of  New 
Testament  Scriptures,  viz. :  "  No  man  can  serve 
tv^ro  masters ;  for  either  he  will  hate  the  one  and 
love  the  other  or  he  will  hold  to  the  one  and  despise 
the  other.  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon.'' 
"  Therefore  be  not  over-anxious  saying.  What  shall 
we  eat  or  what  shall  we  drink,  or  wherewith  shall 
we  be  clothed  ?  For  after  all  these  things  do  the 
Gentiles  seek  ;  for  your  heavenly  Father  knoweth 
that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things.  But  seek 
ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness, 
and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  — 
MalL  vi.  24,  31-33.  *'Take  heed  and  beware  of 
covetousness  ;  for  a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the 
abundance  of  the  things  that  he  possesseth."  "  Sell 
that  ye  have  and  give  alms.    Provide  yourselves  bags 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  241 

which  wax  not  old,  a  treasure  in  the  heavens  that 
faileth  not  ;  where  no  thief  approacheth  nor  moth 
corrupteth.  For  where  your  treasure  is  there  will 
your  heart  be  also."  —  Luke  xii.  15,  33,  34.  See 
also  in  the  same  chapter,  the  parable  of  the  rich 
man  who  pulled  down  his  barns  and  builded  greater, 
and  who  then  said  to  his  soul,  "  Soul,  thou  hast  much 
goods  laid  up  for  many  years  ;  take  thine  ease ;  eat, 
drink  and  be  merry.  But  God  said  unto  him,  Fool, 
this  night  thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee  ;  then 
whose  shall  these  things  be  which  thou  hast  pro- 
vided }  So  is  he  that  layeth  up  treasure  for  him- 
self and  is  not  rich  towards  God." —  Verses  16-21. 
"  Charge  them  that  are  rich  in  this  world  that  they 
be  not  high-minded,  nor  trust  in  uncertain  riches 
but  in  the  living  God,  who  giveth  us  all  richly  to 
enjoy  ;  that  they  do  good,  that  they  be  rich  in  good 
works,  ready  to  distribute,  willing  to  communicate  ; 
laying  up  in  store  for  themselves  a  good  founda- 
tion against  the  time  to  come,  that  they  may  lay 
hold  on  eternal  life."  "For  we  brought  nothing 
into  this  world  and  it  is  certain  we  can  carry 
nothing  out.  And  having  food  and  raiment  let  us 
therewith  be  content.  But  they  that  will  be  rich 
fall  into  temptation  and  a  snare,  and  into  many 
foolish  and  hurtful  lusts  which  drown  men  in 
destruction  and  perdition.  For  the  love  of  money 
is  the  root  of  all  evil,  which,  while  some  coveted 
after,  they  have  erred  from  the  faith  and  pierced 
themselves  through  with  many  sorrows." —  i  Tim.  vi. 
17-19,  7-10.  "  Let  your  conversation  be  without 
covetousness,  and    be  content  with  such    things   as 


242  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

ye  have  ;  for  he  hath  said,  I  will  never  leave  thee 
nor  forsake  thee.  So  that  we  may  boldly  say,  The 
Lord  is  my  helper  and  I  will  not  fear  what  man 
shall  do  unto  me."  —  Heb.  xiii.  5,  6.  "Remember 
the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  how  he  said.  It  is 
more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." — Acts  xx. 
35.  "Who  though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes 
became  poor,  that  ye  through  his  poverty  might 
be  made  rich."  —  2  Cor.  viii.  9.  "Whoso  hath 
this  world's  good  and  seeth  his  brother  have  need 
and  shutteth  up  his  bowels  of  compassion  from  him, 
how  dwelleth  the  love  of  God  in  him  }  Let  us  not 
love  in  word,  neither  in  tongue,  but  in  deed  and 
in  truth." — i  John  iii.  17,  18.  These  quotations 
will   suffice. 

If  there  can  be  any  higher,  holier,  or  more 
rational  morality  relative  to  property  than  this,  I 
know  not  where  to  look  for  it.  And  I  am  sure 
that  the  blessed  experiences  of  the  few  in  all  ages 
of  our  era  who  have  practiced  it,  as  well  as  the 
bitter  experiences  of  the  many  who  have  contemned 
it,  must  rise  up  to  confess  and  attest  its  excellence. 
Who  then  are  disposed  to  make  it  their  own  by 
adoption  and  exemplification }  To  enlighten  and 
aid  all  such  let  me  still  further  expound  the  prin- 
ciples involved  by  specifying  the  just,  necessary, 
and  Christian  uses  to  which  property  may  be  put, 
in  conformity  with  the  spirit  of  what  has  been  said. 

I.  To  supply  the  natural  need  of  wholesome  food 
or  nutriment  —  just  what  in  kind,  quality,  variety, 
and  quantity,  is  really  healthful  and  promotive  of 
the  well-being  of  the  physical  body. 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  243 

2.  To  supply  the  natural  need  of  clothing  or 
raiment,  of  just  the  kind,  quality,  and  amount  requi- 
site to  health,  comfort,  and  modest  comeliness  — 
nothing  less  and  nothing  more. 

3.  To  supply  the  natural  need  of  a  healthful, 
comfortable,  pleasant  home  —  housing,  lodging,  with 
accompanying  appliances  and  appurtenances. 

4.  To  supply  necessary,  wholesome,  productive 
employment  for  one's  self  and  dependents ;  whereby 
suitable  business  may  be  carried  on  or  work  fur- 
nished according  to  capacity  and  opportunity.  This, 
all  who  live  by  honest  industry  must  have  ;  either 
by  their  own  providing  or  at  the  hands  of  employ- 
ers. Enough  of  the  right  kind  of  employment 
should  be  available  but  not  so  much  as  to  impose 
slavish  burdens  upon  any,  whether  or  not  disposed 
to  bear  them. 

5.  To  supply  all  the  really  necessary  healthful 
and  proper  pecuniary  means  of  supporting,  rearing, 
educating,  and  satisfying  the  essential  wants  of  a 
family.  A  reasonable  sufficiency  without  extrava- 
gance or  excess  in  any  particular. 

6.  To  supply  all  real  need  of  rest,  recreation,  and 
amusement ;  also  maintenance  in  case  of  debility, 
infirmity,  or  advancing  age. 

7.  To  meet  the  necessary  expenses  of  sickness 
to  which  all  are  liable,  general  care,  medical  attend- 
ance and  prescriptions,  special  nursing,  etc. 

8.  To  provide  for  one's  self  and  dependents,  if 
there  be  such,  decently  liberal  facilities  for  intellect- 
ual,  moral,   and   religious   culture,   and    for    keeping 


244  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

informed  upon  current  events  and  topics  of  general 
interest  as  time  goes  on. 

9.  To  maintain  a  reasonably  generous  hospitality 
towards  friends  and  acquaintances,  strangers  and 
others  brought  incidentally  into  contact  with  us, 
according  to  position  in  life  and  the  promptings  of 
kindly  interest  and  good  will. 

10.  To  meet  necessary  traveling  expenses  and 
other  incidental  demands  that  may  be  justly  made 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  human  events. 

11.  To  pay  honorably  all  just  public  taxes  and  all 
rightful  claims  for  the  preservation  of  social  order 
and  the  general  well-being  of  the  community,  as 
becomes  good  citizenship  in  the  neighborhood  or 
town. 

12.  To  be  able  to  contribute  liberally  to  worthy 
charities  and  philanthropies,  to  help  the  poor  and 
needy  making  their  appeal  for  aid,  and  to  support 
equitably  and  cheerfully,  in  co-operation  with  others, 
the  institutions  of  education,  benevolence,  and  reli- 
gion in  general  society. 

Thus  have  I  named  twelve  just,  necessary,  and 
commendable  uses  to  which  property  may  be  put  in 
fealty  to  the  requirements  of  Primitive  Christianity. 
They  are  all  sanctioned  if  not  prescriptively  enjoined 
by  the  Founder  and  Head  of  our  holy  religion,  and 
are  in  happy  accord  with  the  principles  and  spirit  of 
the  New  Testament. 

For  the  general  guiding  of  conscientious  people  in 
regard  to  personal  expenditure,  etc.,  and  to  prevent 
serious    misjudgment    and    capricious    abuse,    while 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  245 

allowino:  considerable  latitude  for  the  exercise  of 
individual  opinion,  some  sucli  general  rule  as  the 
following  may  be  suggested  as  worthy  of  observance, 
viz. :  Never  to  appropriate  to  one's  self,  family 
dependents,  or  personal  favorites,  for  exclusive  use 
or  consumption,  more  property  in  the  aggregate  than 
would  be  each  individual's  average  equitable  share  if 
all  mankind  were  ordering  their  lives  by  the  teaching 
and  example  of  the  Man  of  Nazereth  and  according 
to  the  supreme  law  of  love  to  God  and  man.  This  I 
regard  as  the  proper  basis  on  which  to  make  an  esti- 
mate of  the  amount  of  one's  rightful  possessions  ; 
all  accumulations  exceeding  the  figures  thus  ascer- 
tained, honestly  and  honorably  acquired,  being  held 
as  a  trust,  to  be  judiciously  and  scrupulously  devoted 
to  benevolent  and  humanitary  uses  and  to  the  build- 
ing up  of  the  kingdom  of  righteousness,  peace,  and 
joy  on  the  earth.  One  might,  in  the  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice  and  at  his  own  discretion,  appropriate  any 
given  amount  less  than  the  average  determined  as 
stated  to  his  own  personal  advantage  and  for  the 
supply  of  his  own  and  dependents'  necessities,  but 
should  carefully  avoid  exceeding  it.  And  according 
to  one's  ability  thus  obtained  of  doing  good  in  the 
world  would  be  the  satisfaction  and  happiness  real- 
ized in  the  fulfilment  of  the  Saviour's  declaration, 
**It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 

Some  no  doubt  will  question  my  positions  and 
conclusion  and  say,  as  you  interpret  Christian 
morality  in  its  application  to  property,  we  must 
never  make  money  or  acquire  means  of  any  kind 
contrary  to  the   commandments  :    *'  Love  thy  neigh- 


246  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

bor  as  thyself";  *' Do  unto  others  as  you  would  have 
others  do  unto  you."  Exactly  so.  But  that  would 
keep  us  in  perpetual  indigence,  or,  at  least,  in 
exceedingly  straitened  circumstances,  financially  con- 
sidered. Are  you  quite  sure  of  this.''  Are  you 
quite  confident  that  the  course  I  propose  and  submit 
as  enjoined  by  pure  Christianity,  would  make  or 
keep  the  general  mass  of  people  poor,  even  amid 
the  abounding  selfishness  of  the  world  ?  If  so,  I 
can  but  feel  that  you  have  fallen  into  grave  error. 
It  might  prevent  any  one,  or  at  least  but  few,  from 
becoming  very  rich,  but  it  would  not  and  could  not 
reduce  the  multitude  to  poverty  or  prevent  those 
making  a  beginning  in  life  without  pecuniary  means 
from  gaining  an  ample  competency,  or  in  many  cases 
from  rising  to  independent  affluence  and  a  ready 
command  of  resources  for  all  reasonably  desirable 
uses.  This  I  sincerely  believe,  for  the  reason  that 
productive  industry  in  any  honorable  calling,  intelli- 
gently pursued,  accompanied  by  a  due  degree  of 
precaution  and  frugality,  all  of  which  are  specific 
Christian  duties,  will  be  blest  of  divine  providence 
and  insure  fair  returns  and  ultimately  abundant  (not 
super-abundant)  accumulation.  Misfortune  or  cal- 
amity or  other  adverse  circumstances  might  occa- 
sionally prevent  such  results,  but  this  would  be  in 
exceptional  cases,  and  would  not  disprove  the  gen- 
eral rule.  The  natural  and  legitimate  fruit  of  leading 
a  life  of  industry,  simplicity,  frugality,  such  as  the 
precepts  of  Christianity  justify  and  approve,  is  an 
ample  sufficiency  of  worldly  possessions  for  all  right- 
ful    personal    and    domestic    uses,    with    a    surplus 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  247 

for  liberal    hospitality  and  openhandcd    though    not 
princely  charity. 

Thus  have  I  expounded  and  illustrated  what  seems 
to  me  to  be  the  pure  Christian  doctrine  in  regard  to 
the  acquisition,  management,  use  and  disposal  of 
worldly  possessions,  or  of  what  is  termed  property. 
And  I  appeal  in  closing  to  the  understanding  and 
conscience  of  my  hearers  (and  readers)  for  a  ver- 
dict in  its  favor.  Is  it  not  pre-eminently  just,  wise, 
beneficent  —  worthy  of  acceptance  and  of  practical 
exemplification  ?  Is  not  the  world  suffering  for  the 
reason  that  men  are  not  ordering  their  lives  in 
accordance  with  it ;  are  not  realizing  it  in  some 
good  degree  ?  So  I  sincerely  and  devoutly  think  and 
believe,  and  I  must  preach  and  teach  accordingly. 
Nay,  more,  I  must  strive  to  act  in  all  respects  con- 
sistently with  such  preaching  and  teaching,  and 
exhort  my  fellow-men  —  all  over  whom  I  have  influ- 
ence, to  do  the  same.  And  may  the  divine  Father 
and  his  beloved  Son  through  the  Holy  Spirit  help 
me  and  them  to  be  faithful  evermore. 


DISCOURSE   XVIII. 

ON    THE    PBIMITIVE    GHBISTIAN  DOCTBINE 
CONCEBNING   MENTAL    CULTUBE. 

"  Why  even  of  yourselves  judge  ye  not  what  is  right." — 
Litke  xii.   z^j. 

"Be  not  children  in  understanding;  howbeit,  in  malice  be 
ye  children,  but  in  understanding  be  men." —  i  Cor.  xiv.  20. 

Some  modern  critics  and  reputed  reformers  depre- 
ciate and  discredit  Christ  and  the  early  promulgators 
of  his  religion  on  the  ground  that  they  ignored  the 
importance  of  the  human  understanding,  and  did 
nothing  to  promote  intellectual  culture  by  means  of 
schools,  colleges,  or  other  institutions  of  learning  ; 
by  philosophical  inquiry,  general  literature,  the 
fine  arts,  etc.  It  is  assumed  by,  such  that  these 
ancient  worthies  were  either  too  ignorant  or  too 
superstitious,  or  perhaps  both,  to  take  any  interest 
in  things  of  that  nature,  their  chief  if  not  only  care 
and  concern  being  to  maintain  and  propagate  a 
certain  type  of  religious  belief,  with  its  correspond- 
ing piety  and  morality,  which  they  claimed  had  been 
revealed  from  heaven.  Are  these  censors  and  de- 
tractors of  the  Founder  of  Christianity  and  his 
ministers  just.?  And  is  their  contention  reasonable.? 
And  ought  their  strictures  to  be  taken  seriously  as 
disclosures    of    the    incompetency    of   those    against 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY.  249 

whom  they  are  made  for  the  work  they  professedly 
undertook  to  do  —  the  work  of  morally  and  spirit- 
ually renovating  and  uplifting  humanity  and  bringing 
in  the  kingdom  of  God.  I  think  not.  Let  us  can- 
didly and  thoughtfully  consider  the  subject  brought 
to  our  attention  by  these  inquiries.  Upon  it  we 
want  **  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but 
truth,"  land  us  where  it  may. 

I  freely  concede  that  the  personages  alluded  to 
established  no  seminaries  or  institutions  of  learning, 
technically  so  called,  and  made  no  systematic  pro- 
vision for  the  promotion  of  science,  art,  philosophy, 
or  general  literature.  Such  institutions  under 
different  names  and  of  more  or  less  value  existed 
in  those  days  in  Judea,  Egypt,  Greece,  Rome, 
and  other  parts  of  the  world.  I  concede .  also 
that  those  first  teachers  of  Christianity  did  not 
prescribe  it  as  a  Christian  duty  to  patronize  and 
support  such  existing  institutions,  nor  to  found 
similar  ones  of  their  own  devising.  They  regarded 
some  of  the  instruction  commonly  given  in 
those  institutions  and  some  of  the  accomplishments 
commonly  taught  as  mere  "  worldly  wisdom,"  which 
was  "foolishness  with  God,"  puffing  up  and  pervert- 
ing the  student.  But  I  do  not  for  a  moment  grant 
that  they  were  opposed  to  such  institutions  per  se, 
or  to  any  kind  of  useful  knowledge  per  sc,  or  to 
any  kind  of  intellectual  culture  or  accomplishment 
in  itself  considered.  Nor  do  I  grant  that  those 
men  were  so  ignorant  as  to  know  nothing  of  the 
institutions  of  learning  then  in  operation,  nor  so 
narrow-minded  as  never  to  consider  their  uses  and 


260  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

general  salutary  influence.  Nor  do  I  grant  that  they 
ever  prohibited,  hindered,  or  discouraged  Christians 
from  obtaining  the  advantages  of  such  institutions 
if  available  and  unobjectionable  ;  much  less  from 
founding  and  supporting  new  and  better  ones  of 
their  own  whenever  opportunity  and  ability  might 
enable  them  so  to  do.  And  least  of  all  do  I  allow 
that  they  forbade,  despised,  or  neglected  the  free 
exercise  of  the  understanding  or  what  we  call  the  rea- 
soning faculties  in  man.  On  the  contrary,  I  main- 
tain that  they  made  it  an  imperative  duty  —  a  part 
of  their  morality  —  to  cultivate  by  continued,  honest 
exercise  the  intellectual  nature.  That  they  did  so 
and  that  they  regarded  such  culture  a  matter  of 
moral  obligation,  constitutes  the  special  subject  of 
consideration  in  this  discourse.  But  before  adduc- 
ing proof  in  support  of  this  position,  I  propose  to 
justify  Christ  and  his  immediate  ministers  for  their 
omissions  and  commissions  respecting  this  matter 
of   mental  training  and  culture. 

I.  They  established  no  educational  institutions; 
this  is  admitted.  And  why  .^  Because  it  was  simply 
impossible  for  them  to  do  so  under  those  circum- 
stances of  agitation,  privation,  and  persecution  amid 
which  they  were  placed.  Jesus  himself  was  engaged 
in  public  labors  only  about  three  and  a  half  years, 
going  about  doing  good,  preaching  the  Gospel  of 
the  kingdom,  with  his  life  in  his  hand,  as  it  were, 
and  of  course  had  no  time  or  strength  for  project- 
ing and  founding  organized  and  well-equipped  institu- 
tions of  any  sort.  His  disciples  after  his  crucifixion 
became  intensely  interested  and  occupied  in  study 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  251 

ing  and  propagating  the  great  truths  of  their  reli- 
gion. For  this  they  were  continually  beset  and 
harassed  by  bitter  opposition,  encountering  men 
by  day  and  night  seeking  cause  for  having  them 
imprisoned  and  put  to  death,  most  of  their  leaders 
actually  coming  to  an  early  martyrdom.  Who  can 
imagine  that  persons  thus  conditioned  would  or 
could  evince  an  active  interest  in  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge  or  in  devising  ways  and  means  of  pro- 
moting its  acquisition  ? 

2.  These  primitive  laborers  in  the  Christian  field 
did  not  enjoin  it  upon  themselves  and  their  fellow- 
disciples  to  patronize  and  support  schools,  colleges, 
etc.,  already  founded  or  to  establish  and  equip  new 
ones  more  closely  conformed  to  any  advanced  ideas 
they  might  entertain  on  the  subject  of  intellectual 
culture.  Well  and  wisely  so  ;  and  for  three  reasons. 
( I )  Existing  institutions  were  either  closed  against 
them  on  account  of  their  heretical  faith,  or  were 
under  the  control  of  intolerant  opposers,  or  were 
agencies  for  upholding  doctrines  and  practices  which 
they  could  not  conscientiously  approve.  (2)  Times 
and  circumstances,  as  already  stated,  rendered  it 
impossible  for  them  to  found  new  ones.  ( 3 ) 
In  the  natural  course  of  the  things  under  the  new 
system  of  faith  and  life,  such  institutions  on  general 
Christian  principles,  would  arise  when  conditions  and 
circumstances  favored,  without  special  precepts  or 
commands.  So  it  seems  to  me  they  acted  wisely 
and  well  in  the  matter. 

3.  They  regarded  much  that  was  taught  in  the 
schools  of  their  day  as  useless  and  some  of  it  perni- 


252  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

cioiis — a  mixture  of  scientific  or  other  truth  with 
■superstition,  idolatry,  and  vain  philosophy.  Nothing 
was  truer  than  this  as  time  and  increased  wisdom 
have  proved.  There  is  useful  knowledge,  that  which 
is  of  value  to  the  learner,  and  there  is  knowledge 
which  is  without  utility  and  utterly  unprofitable  ; 
and  there  are  foolish  and  demoralizing  accomplish- 
ments in  the  educational  curriculum,  as  there  are 
refining  and  ennobling  ones.  Primitive  Christianity 
was  justly  opposed  both  to  pernicious  instruction 
and  to  needless  instruction,  as  it  was  to  empty  and 
degrading  manners  and  customs,  though  fashionable 
and  courtly.  Moreover  it  did  not  deem  the  m.ost 
imexceptionable  and  commendatory  scholastic  attain- 
ments essential  to  salvation  ;  promotive  of  virtue, 
piety  and  happiness,  unless  controlled  by  moral  and 
religious  principles  and  the  spirit  of  love  to  God  and 
man.v  Hence  it  was  the  chief,  the  leading  purpose 
of  its  representatives  to  disseminate  far  and  wide  as 
possible  the  great  distinguishing  principles  and  spirit 
of  their  religion  as  of  most  vital  importance,  believ- 
ing and  feeling  that  under  their  inspiration  and 
guidance,  education,  mental  training,  intellectual 
attainments,  would  be  duly  provided  for,  and  that 
when  the  proper  time  should  come  and  favoring 
opportunity  should  arise,  all  needful  means  and  appli- 
ances for  the  development,  training,  and  strengthen- 
ing the  powers  of  the  mind  —  for  the  acquisition  of 
useful  knowledge,  would  be  supplied.  They  held  to 
and  lived  by  the  injunction  *' Seek  ye  first  the  king- 
dom of  God  and  his  righteousness  and  all  these 
shall  be  granted  you." 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  25S 

And  who  can  say  in  good  conscience  and  with 
sound  judgment  they  were  not  right,  acting  not  only 
from  high  and  noble  motives  for  the  cause;  of  pure 
and  undefiled  religion  and  the  good  of  humanity, 
but  under  that  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  which- 
giveth  men  understanding  and  in  the  line  of  that 
wisdom  which  is  "profitable  to  direct."  I  believe 
they  were.  I  have  seen  too  many  learned  apes,  liter- 
ary epicures,  plodding  bookworms,  scholastic  pedants, 
and  too  many  educated  profligates  and  villains  to 
worship  merely  intellectual  attainment.  With  high- 
toned  moral  principle  and  sterling  common  sense  the 
more  learning  the  better.  Ikit  without  the  former 
the  latter  is  likely  to  be  of  little  practical  value  or  ta 
be  put  to  a  bad  use  —  to  feed  self-conceit  and  the 
spirit  of  caste,  or  prey  upon  or  make  serfs  and  pack- 
horses  of  the  unlearned  and  more  easily  beguiled, 
masses  of  mankind.  There  is  a  broad  distinction 
existing  between  mere  scholarship  and  true  wisdom.. 
There  may  be  much  of  the  former,  while  the  rational 
faculties,  the  powers  of  the  understanding,  are  undis- 
ciplined, feeble,  inert.  Hence  there  are  many  so- 
called  educated  people  who  cannot  reason  from  first 
principles  or  recognized  facts  ;  who  are  the  slaves, 
of  bookish  authority  and  established  formulas,  but 
who  cannot  think  out  of  their  narrow  professional, 
ruts.  There  can  be  no  true  wisdom  and  no  complete 
education  without  original  thought,  fresh  inspiration, 
and  a  free  e.Kcrcise  of  the  understandi  ng.  And  with- 
out true  wisdom,  men  will  be  foolish,  ignoble, 
degraded,  vicious,  despite  any  mental  culture,  acqui- 
sition,   refinement,    they    may    possess.      And   herein 


254  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

I  see  clearly  why  Christ  and  his  apostles  assumed 
the  position  they  did  in  respect  to  the  culture  and 
exercise  of  the  reasoning  faculties  —  the  powers 
of  the  understanding,  whose  importance,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  they  clearly  recognized,  and  whose  aid  they 
often  invoked  as  they  prosecuted  their  mission  of 
redemption  to  the  world.  They  knew  that  the 
intellect  must  be  baptized  by  religion  and  sanctified 
in  order  to  attain  its  best  and  do  its  grandest  work. 
They  knew  that  neither  tradition,  nor  philosophy, 
nor  blind  belief,  nor  science,  nor  literature,  any  more 
than  spasmodic  emotion  or  rhapsodical  sentimental- 
ism,  could  renew  the  individual  soul  in  righteousness 
or  save  the  world  from  folly,  degradation,  and 
iniquity.  They  knew,  too,  that  there  must  be,  with 
faith  in  God  and  the  eternal  verities,  also  divine 
truth,  fundamental  principles  of  duty,  deeply  rooted 
and  intrenched  in  a  freely  acting  judgment  and  an 
enlightened  intellect.  This  brings  us  to  a  considera- 
tion of  the  bearing  which  both  their  example  and 
their  teaching  have  upon  the  matter. 

I.  Their  example.  What  kind  of  a  public  teacher 
or  preacher  was  Christ  himself }  The  record  of  his 
labors  shows  that  he  was  earnest,  sincere,  uncompro- 
mising, often  parabolical  and  intensely  figurative,  in 
his  utterances,  and  that  he  always  had  some  great 
thought,  idea,  or  principle  of  virtue  or  piety  to  pre- 
sent, uphold,  and  urge  upon  his  auditors,  appealing 
directly  to  their  reason  and  judgment  no  less  than 
to  their  feelings  and  the  deeper  emotions  of  their 
hearts.  He  was  in  no  sense  a  ranting  declaimer,  a 
smooth-tongued  rhetorician,  an  artful  manipulator  of 


AND   ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  255 

words  and  phrases,  arresting  the  attention  of  the 
crowd  and  dealing  in  flattering  appeals  to  ignorance, 
superstition,  and  selfishness,  or  in  terrific  denuncia- 
tions and  threats  of  impending  doom.  He  was  as 
calm^  sober,  unimpassioncd,  reasonable,  as  he  was  wise, 
positive,  firm,  strict,  inexorable  in  his  expositions  of 
truth  and  duty.  He  never  equivocated,  played  fast 
and  loose  with  principle,  or  hid  the  message  given 
him  to  deliver  and  bear  witness  to  in  a  cloud  of 
misty  verbiage.  He  spake  "as  one  having  authority 
and  not  as  the  Scribes."  This  appears  in  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount,  in  his  parables  of  the  Prodigal 
Son  and  the  Good  Samaritan,  in  his  picture  of  the 
judgment,  in  his  debates  with  sophistical  opposers, 
and  in  his  more  private  intercourse  with  his  disciples. 
He  always  addressed  not  only  the  better  feelings  and 
the  moral  sense  in  men  but  their  reason  and  under- 
standing, impliedly  urging  upon  his  hearers  at  every 
interview  the  once  expressed  reproving  inquiry, 
"  Why  of  yourselves  judge  ye  not  what  is  right  ?  " 

His  ambassadors  so  far  as  we  have  reports  of  their 
utterances  or  writings  were  men  of  similar  charac- 
teristics in  this  regard.  They  were  not,  as  a  rule, 
what  would  be  termed  educated,  scholarly  men,  but 
men  of  intellectual  vigor  and  strength,  as  they  were 
of  good  common  sense.  Like  the  Master  they 
indulged  in  no  platitudes  or  sentimentalisms,  but, 
conscious  of  having  a  message  to  deliver,  they  deliv- 
ered it  directly,  tersely,  impressively,  often  with 
pungent  force.  As  exam])les  of  this,  see  Peter's 
address  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  ;  also  his  two 
Epistles    and    the    Epistles    of    James    and    John. 


256  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

Paul,  the  most  learned  and  technically  logical  of  all 
the  early  champions  of  the  cause  -of  Christ,  says  of 
himself,  "  My  speech  and  my  preaching  was  not 
with  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,  but  in  demon- 
stration of  the  spirit  and  of  power." — i  Cor.  ii.  4. 
His  discourse  on  Mars  Hill,  in  the  presence  of  the 
philosophical,  refined  "men  of  Athens,"  was  a  pro- 
found and  masterly  production,  freighted  with  great 
and  solemn  truths,  and  will  be  preserved  and  valued, 
no  doubt  to  the  end  of  time,  as  one  of  the  grandest 
specimens  of  forensic  eloquence  charged  with  a  lofty 
moral  purpose  which  the  world  affords.  And  his 
letters,  especially  that  to  the  Romans,  bear  upon 
their  face  striking  evidence  of  his  intellectual  vigor, 
reasoning  ability,  and  power  of  expression,  as  they  do 
of  his  reverent  spirit,  his  lofty  aim,  and  his  unfal- 
tering devotion  to  the  great  Teacher  whom  he  pro- 
fessed to  follow  and  to  serve.  The  pertinency  of 
these  observations  to  the  subject  in  hand  lies  in 
the  fact  that  they  show  not  only  what  intellectual 
gifts  the  Apostles  possessed,  but  how  faithfully  they 
employed  them  in  the  prosecution  of  their  great 
life  work,  and  how  well  calculated  their  spoken  and 
written  words  were  to  stimulate  thought  in  the 
minds  of  those  addressed,  and  to  commend  the  truths 
to  which  they  testified  to  the  deliberate  judgment 
and  understanding  of  their  hearers,  ministering 
alike  to  their  intellectual  vitality  and  nurture,  and 
to  their  moral  and  spiritual  life. 

2.  Their  precepts.  These  in  large  number  prove 
conclusively  that  their  authors  were  by  no  means 
indifferent  to    mental    culture    and    the    use    of    the 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  257 

reasoning  powers  in  the  study  and  practice  of  reli- 
gious truth,  but  rather  held  them  in  high  regard, 
as  the  following  examples  show.  "  He  that  received 
seed  into  good  ground  is  he  that  heareth  the  word 
and  understandeth  it ;  who  also  beareth  fruit,  and 
bringeth  forth,  some  an  hundred  fold,  some  sixty, 
some  thirty."  —  Matt.  xiii.  23.  **  Have  ye  understood 
all  these  things  t  Every  scribe  instructed  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  man,  a  householder,  who 
bringeth  forth  out  of  his  treasure  things  new  and 
old." — lb.  51,  52.  "He  called  the  multitude  and 
said  unto  them,  Hear  and  understand."  —  Mai'k  vii. 
14.  **  Why  even  of  yourselves  judge  ye  not  what 
is  right." — Luke  xiii.  57.  ''Judge  not  according  to 
the  appearance  but  judge  righteous  judgment."  — 
John  vii.  24.  "  Ye  shall  know  the  truth  and  the 
truth  shall  make  you  free." — John  viii.  32.  "To 
this  end  was  I  born  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into 
the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness  to  the  truth. 
Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  my  voice." 
— Joh7t  xviii.  37.  Such  is  the  testimony  of  the  great 
Teacher  himself  bearing  directly  upon  the  subject 
under  consideration.  That  of  the  Apostles  is  no 
less  explicit  and  conclusive.  Paul,  writing  to  one 
of  the  churches  in  which  he  had  a  profound  inter- 
est said,  "I  speak  as  unto  wise  men;  judge  ye 
what  I  say."  —  i  Cor.  x.  15.  "Except  ye  utter  with 
the  tongue  words  easy  to  be  understood,  how  shall 
it  be  known  what  is  spoken.?"  "I  will  pray  with 
the  spirit  and  I  will  pray  with  the  understanding 
also;  I  will  sing  with  the  spirit  and  I  will  sing 
with  the  understanding  also."     "  I  had  rather  speak 


258  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

five  words  with  my  understanding  *  *  *  than  ten 
thousand  words  in  an  unknown  tongue."  "Brethren, 
be  not  children  in  understanding  *  *  *  but  in  under- 
standing be  men." — i  Cor.  xiv.  9,  15,  19,  20.  "I 
pray  that  your  love  may  abound  yet  more  and  more 
in  knowledge  and  in  all  judgment,  that  ye  may 
approve  the  things  that  are  excellent."  —  Phil.  i. 
9,  10.  **  Prove  all  things;  hold  fast  that  which  is 
good."  —  I  Thes.  v.  21.  "God  hath  not  given  us 
the  spirit  of  fear,  but  of  power,  and  of  love,  and  of 
a  sound  mind."  —  2  Tim.  i.  7.  Hear  also  James. 
"Who  is  a  wise  man  and  endued  with  knowledge 
among  you.?  Let  him  shew  out  of  a  good  conver- 
sation his  works  with  meekness  of  wisdom."  — 
James  iii.  13.  And  John,  "The  son  of  God  has 
come  and  hath  given  us  an  understanding,  that  we 
may  know  him  that  is  true." —  i  John  v.  20.  And 
finally  Peter,  "  Sanctify  the  Lord  God  in  your 
hearts  ;  and  be  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to 
every  man  that  asketh  you  a  reason  of  the  hope 
that  is  in  you."  —  i   Peter  iii.    15. 

We  see  from  these  extracts  that  their  authors 
recognized  the  importance  of  the  understanding  in 
the  work  of  enlightening  and  redeeming  men,  and 
the  duty  of  employing  it  in  the  consideration  and 
practical  illustration  of  the  great  lessons  of  life. 
Why  this  duty  should  be  performed  by  each  and 
every  one  seeking  his  own  and  others  highest 
development  and  permanent  well-being  is  made 
clear  by  a  few  reflections. 

I.  The  understanding  is  an  essential,  constitu- 
tional   part    of    human    nature.      And    without     its 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  269 

proper  and  proportional  development,  activity,  use, 
there  can  be  no  symmetrical,  all-sided  character, 
such  as  Christianity  is  designed  to  promote  and 
secure ;  only  a  malformed,  defective  one.  In  its 
legitimate  and  divinely  appointed  office  the  religion 
of  Christ  contemplates  every  department  of  man's 
being,  with  a  view  of  bringing  it  into  active  exer- 
cise within  its  own  distinctive  limits,  and  into  true 
and  harmonious  relations  with  all  other  depart- 
ments and  with  the  entire  whole  ;  so  that  there 
may  be  produced  a  full-orbed,  perfect  manhood, 
''according  to  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the 
fulness  of  Christ."  But  this  cannot  be  done  if  the 
intellect  is  ignored,  neglected,  or  abused.  The 
animal  propensities  and  passions,  appetites  and 
desires,  may  be  duly  alert,  fulfilling  their  several 
functions  in  an  orderly  way;  the  emotional  nature  — 
the  feelings,  impulses,  aspirations  of  the  heart  may 
be  in  full  exercise  and  wisely  subordinated  to  the 
law  of  righteousness  ;  the  moral  and  spiritual  facul- 
ties may  be  also  serving  their  designed  uses  in 
keeping  the  soul  awake  to  the  eternal  realties  and 
to  its  intrinsic  relation  to  God  ;  but  if  the  reason 
be  left  unemployed  and  the  understanding  is  not 
exercised  there  is  radical  defect  in  the  totality  of 
one's  being;  manhood  is  seriously  impaired  and 
the  divine  design  is  so  far  frustrated. 

2.  Moreover,  the  reason  and  understanding,  in 
the  true  order  of  human  development  and  activity, 
constitute  the  controlling  element  in  the  nature  of 
man.  The  passions,  propensities,  desires,  appetites, 
may    sometimes,    by  their    own    motion,  act    wisely 


260  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

and  beneficently,  but  are  far  more  likely  to  do 
otherwise;  they  are  liable  to  run  into  very  great 
excesses  and  to  work  immense  mischief,  unless 
held  in  check  and  properly  directed.  They  are 
not  self-controlled.  And  the  same  may  be  said 
of  the  higher  human  faculties.  The  affections, 
pure  as  they  may  be,  are  yet  blind,  and  capable 
of  great  harm.  The  conscience  is  by  no  means 
a  sufficient  guide  unto  itself.  Unduly  exercised, 
morbidly  active,  it  has  produced  a  severity  or 
moroseness  of  character  quite  unlike  the  tender- 
ness and  grace  of  Christ  ;  wrongly  directed,  it  has 
fostered  the  most  bitter  and  unrelenting  persecu- 
tions. And  the  religious  sentiment,  left  to  its  own 
unenlightened  and  unguided  impulse,  runs  readily 
into  irrational  and  odious  superstition  and  fanati- 
cism. These  all  need  the  regulating,  directing,  all- 
controlling  power  resident  in  the  understanding 
animated  by  the  spirit  of  God,  to  hold  them  to 
their  true  office,  and  to  enable  them  to  serve  effect- 
ually the  real  ends  for  which  in  the  infinite  plan 
they  were  designed. 

3.  The  intellectual  nature  of  man — the  reflective, 
reasoning  faculties  —  the  judgment  and  understand- 
ing, are  furthermore  indispensable  to  a  proper  balance 
of  the  other  departments  of  human  nature  and  to  the 
whole  personality  ;  are  necessary  to  give  dignity  and 
strength  to  character  and  nobility  to  manhood.  He 
is  a  weak  man,  an  unreliable  man,  a  man  shorn  of 
real  power  for  good,  who  is  incapable  of  deep  thought, 
of  comprehending  great  principles  of  truth  and  duty, 
of    entering   by   profound    study  and    contemplation 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  261 

*  '  ♦  . 

not  only  into  the  secret  chambers  of  the  material 
universe  to  bring  out  therefrom  treasures  of  wisdom 
hidden  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  but  into 
the  plans  and  purposes  of  God  in  the  realm  of  souls, 
bringing  thence  eternal  verities,  and  the  things  that 
pertain  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  While  he,  who, 
by  an  intelligent  understanding  and  a  sound  judg- 
ment, is  qualified  for  these  exercises  and  attain- 
ments, is  invested  with  something  of  the  everlasting 
strength,  is  clothed  upon,  in  a  measure,  with  the 
panoply  of  God.  He  is  not  only  strong  in  himself 
to  rule  every  member  and  faculty  of  his  own  being, 
to  resist  temptation,  and  to  stand  fast  in  his  own 
integrity,  but  strong  to  accomplish  important  ends 
in  the  world,  to  war  against  the  evils  that  afflict 
humanity,  and  to  build  on  the  earth  the  habitations 
of  righteousness,  brotherhood,  and  peace.  Strong 
too  is  he  to  shape  the  future  to  finer  issues  and 
help  bring  in  the  better  era  to  the  children  of  men. 
4.  The  human  intellect  bears  definite  relations 
to  the  truth  in  every  department  of  existence,  as 
the  eye  does  to  the  light,  or  the  ear  to  harmonious 
and  delightful  music.  It  is  therefore  through  the 
intellect — by  the  culture  and  use  of  the  intellect 
in  its  higher  manifestations  —  through  the  reason 
and  unde  rstanding  that  truth  is  not  simply  discov- 
ered, but  comprehended  and  made  real  to  tlie  con^ 
sciousness.  In  the  same  way,  and  in  that  way  only 
can  discrimination  be  made  between  truth  and  error, 
as  is  necessary  in  order  that  error,  with  all  its 
damaging,  demoralizing  influences  and  effects,  may 
be  eliminated  and   put  forever  away  ;  and  that   truth 


262  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

be  exalted  to  the  supremacy  in  human  life  and  in 
the  world  which  rightly  belongs  to  it.  In  the  same 
way,  by  the  legitimate  exercise  and  use  of  the  under- 
standing, can  the  relative  value  and  importance  of 
different  kinds  or  classes  of  truth  be  determined, 
and  a  just  distinction  be  made  between  truths  of 
great  and  those  of  little  value,  in  themselves  con- 
sidered or  in  the  conduct  of  life ;  between  those 
truths  that  are  incidental  to  human  welfare  and 
happiness  and  those  that  are  essential  and  so  of 
indispensable  importance.  And  the  work  thus  indi- 
cated must  be  done,  or  men  will  continue  to  be  in 
the  future  as  they  have  been  in  the  past,  the  sub- 
jects of  all  sorts  of  illusions  and  hallucinations, 
falsities  and  fallacies,  and  the  victims  of  a  vast 
multitude  of  sophistries  and  deceits,  wherewith  so 
many  are  beguiled  and  led  away,  not  only  from  the 
truth  but  from  the  God  of  truth  also,  to  their  own 
destruction.  "The  truth,"  said  Jesus,  ''shall  make 
you  free ; "  free,  not  alone  from  error,  but  from 
folly,  sin,  and  moral  death.  Therefore  to  seek  the 
truth  and  to  know  the  truth  is  a  primary  vital  con- 
cern with  every  rational,  moral,  immortal  being  ;  and 
to  nurture,  train,  exercise,  and  employ  those  facul- 
ties in  the  human  constitution  by  which  truth  is 
discovered,  apprehended,  and  made  serviceable  to 
the  necessities  of  mankind,  are  duties  never  to  be 
lost  sight  of,  underestimated,  or  neglected.  To  do 
this  is  to  sin  against  one's  own  soul  and  against 
God,  the  Author  of  all  man's  nobler  powers. 

I    have    thus    given    the    chief    reasons    why  the 
intellectual    department    of    human    nature,    in    the 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  263 

his/her  rano:e  of  its  faculties,  should  be  rei^arded, 
nurtured,  trained  to  the  utmost  extent,  and  put  to 
its  proper  ligitimate  uses.  Each  one  of  them  might 
be  elaborated  and  illustrated  to  an  indefinite  extent. 
But  I  have  said  enough  to  show  how  naturally  the 
duty  indicated  comes  within  the  scope  of  the  prim- 
itive morality  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  which  includes 
all  the  powers  and  faculties  of  man's  nature  as 
subjects  of  its  authority,  and  requires  the  consecra- 
tion of  them  all  to  the  service  of  God  and  man. 
Woe  be  to  him  who  neglects  the  gift  that  is  in 
him  ;  who  hides  in  a  napkin  any  talent  with  which 
God  has  enriched  his  being.  To  such  it  shall  be 
said,  "O  thou  wicked  and  slothful  servant."  "Take 
the  talent  from  him"  and  give  to  him  who  will  use 
it  wisely  and  well.  ''And  cast  the  unprofitable 
servant  into  outer  darkness.  There  shall  be  weep- 
ing and  gnashing  of  teeth."  Let  us  faithfully 
regard  the  obligation  Primitive  Christianity  imposes 
upon  us  in  this  particular.  Then  shall  we  enjoy 
and  impart  to  others  the  blessedness  whereunto  we 
are  called  in  Christ    Jesus. 


DISCOURSE    XIX. 

THE  PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE  RESPECTING 
THE  USE  OF  TALENTS,  ETC. 

"  Unto  whom  much  is  given,  of  him  will  much  be  required." 

—  Luke  xii.  48. 

*'  Walk  circumspectly,  not  as  fools  but  as  wise,  redeeming 
the  time,  because  the  days  are  evil."  —  Ephs.  v.   15,   16. 

"As  we  have  therefore  opportunity  let  us  do  good  unto  al^ 
men ;  especially  unto  them  who  are  of  the  household  of  faith." 

—  Gal,  vi.   10. 

The  primitive  Christian  morality  does  not  allow 
its  disciples  to  lead  an  irresponsible,  idle,  careless, 
vain,  or  useless  life.  It  imposes  upon  every  one 
professing  allegiance  to  it  the  obligation  to  employ 
his  talent,  time,  and  opportunity  with  conscientious 
fidelity,  to  the  glory  of  God  and  for  the  good  of 
humanity  ;  and  thus  to  make  existence  most  benefi- 
cent, most  noble,  and  most  happy.  In  this  require- 
ment and  the  purpose  underlying  it  true  religion 
and  reason  concur.  Let  us  consider  then  the  im- 
portant duties  which  these  statements  involve 
and  enjoin. 

I.  All  persons  possess  what  is  termed  talent, 
skill,  or  capability,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  to 
be  used  wisely  and  well  or  to  be  neglected  and 
abused.  This  possession  may  be  natural  or  acquired. 
It  may  be  physical,   intellectual,  moral,   or  spiritual. 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY.  265 

It  may  consist  in  power  of  industry,  in  ingenuity, 
judgment,  knowledge,  or  personal  influence  —  in 
what  mny  be  called  material,  mental,  or  spiritual 
goods  ;  no  matter  what  it  may  include  or  V^e  named 
so  long  as  it  is  an  endowment  or  attainment  that 
can  be  exercised  or  employed  in  some  effective  way 
to  some  specific  end.  Whatever  it  be,  and  what- 
ever the  amount  —  much  or  little  —  the  possessor 
is  a  steward  in  trust,  responsible  to  God  for  the 
best  possible  use  of  what  he  has.  He  who  has 
most  has  none  to  lie  idle  or  misuse  ;  and  he  who 
has  least  should  by  no  means  neglect  or  disregard 
what  he  has,  but  be  all  the  more  diligent  in  employ- 
ing it  to  some  worthy  purpose.  All  are  to  occupy 
and  improve  the  estate  of  which  they  have  charge. 
All  are  to  give  account,  sooner  or  later,  for  use 
and  disuse,  for  improvement  and  abuse  alike.  I 
need  not  quote  precepts,  examples,  or  illustrations 
in  proof  of  these  declarations. 

The  morality  whose  claims  and  demands  I  have 
thus  clearly  indicated  is  without  question  a  sound, 
wholesome,  excellent  morality,  worthy  of  acceptance 
and  of  universal  exemplication.  Mankind  generally 
are  prone  to  assume  that  those  who  have  great 
talents  or  capacities  of  any  kind  may  employ  them 
chiefly  if  not  wholly  for  their  own  advantage,  pleas- 
ure, or  glory.  At  least  they  are  inclined  to  think 
that  such  persons,  if  they  devote  some  certain  por- 
tion—  a  small  portion  perhaps  —  of  what  they  have 
to  generous  and  noble  uses,  to  the  betterment  of 
human  conditions,  to  causes  of  reform  and  charity, 
to  the  promotion  of  the  divine  kingdom,   they  may 


266  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

do  as  they  list  with  the  remainder  —  spend  it  all 
upon  themselves  or  upon  what  conduces  to  their 
own  personal  profit,  aggrandizement,  and  gratifica- 
tion. But  Primitive  Christianity  countenances  no 
such  irresponsibility  to  God,  no  such  blind  devo- 
tion to  self,  even  in  respect  to  the  least  fraction 
of  one's  gifts  or  faculties,  however  great  or  multi- 
tudinous they  may  be.  Whatsoever  and  how-much- 
soever  one  may  have  of  the  possessions  under  notice, 
all  is  to  be  used,  under  a  deep  sense  of  personal 
accountability  for  the  good  and  happiness  of  man- 
kind, one's  self  included.  The  greater,  wiser,  more 
capable  I  am,  the  more  just,  considerate,  kind,  benevo- 
lent, helpful,  am  I  sacredly  bound  to  be  towards 
those  less  favored  than  myself.  And  if  I  am  ani- 
mated by  the  real  spirit  of  Christ,  the  happier 
shall   I  be. 

Again,  mankind  are  prone  to  assume  that  those 
who  have  little  talent,  wealth,  or  ability  of  any  kind 
are  under  no  sacred  obligation  to  use  wisely  and 
well  what  they  do  have,  will  be  held  to  no  very 
strict  account  in  the  matter,  and  are  of  very  little 
consequence  in  the  world,  any  way  ;  and  may  there- 
fore be  excused  for  doing  nothing  to  bless  the 
world  —  for  hiding  their  talent  in  a  napkin;  while, 
correspondingly,  others  may  be  excused  for  treating 
them  with  indifference  or  contempt.  But  the  mor- 
ality of  the  Gospel  allows  nothing  of  this  on  either 
hand.  It  does  not  measure  human  responsibility 
or  human  worth  by  the  amount  of  talent,  learning, 
worldly  accummulations,  etc.,  one  may  have  ;  nor  by 
any  great  and   notable  thing  one  may  do,   by  reason 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  267 

of  such  possessions.  It  rather  teaches  that  every 
soul  is  of  inestimable  value  in  and  of  itself,  as  a 
creature  and  child  of  God,  and  that  every  grade  of 
ability,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  is  of  intrin- 
sic importance  and  will  be  held  to  its  own  proper 
responsibility,  making  the  mite  of  the  poor  widow, 
given  out  of  heartfelt  love  and  loyalty  to  her  Lord, 
greater  than  the  most  generous  contributions  of  the 
opulent  capitalist  or  money-getter  rolling  in  wealth. 
It  does  not  excuse  l)ut  condemns  the  steward  who 
had  but  one  talent  for  burying  it  in  the  earth,  as 
it  does  not  excuse  but  condemns  those  of  superior 
ability  and  of  larger  accumulations  of  whatever 
sort  for  under-estimating  or  despising  their  less 
fortunate  brethren.  All  are  under  obligation  to  do 
their  best  with  whatever  they  possess,  as  they  are 
to  love  and  respect,  to  serve  and  help  one  another. 
This  is  a  morality  worth  having;  and  whatever  is 
contrary  to  this  is  foolish,   mean,  and  undesirable. 

2.  All  persons  have  time  to  use  or  abuse ;  to 
improve  or  fritter  away  to  no  good  purpose.  What 
may  be  deemed  innocent  and  approved  uses  of 
time,  and  how  may  it  be  wisely  and  effectively 
improved,  according  to  the  spirit  and  requirements 
of  Primitive  Christianity  ?  These  inquires  are  essen- 
tially answered  in  the  following  specifications:  When 
it  is  employed  and  devoted  (  i )  To  moral  and  reli- 
gious nurture,  edification,  and  fellowship;  (2)  To 
intellectual  training  and  the  acquisition  of  useful 
knowledge;  (3)  To  industrial  pursuits  and  business 
activities  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  means  of 
subsistence  for    one's   self    and    dependents,  with    a 


268  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

surplus  for  other  good  uses;  (4)  To  needful  rest 
from  ordinary  toil  and  such  recreation  and  pleasure- 
seeking  as  may  contribute  to  one's  health,  strength, 
and  happiness;  (5)  To  travel,  within  reasonable 
limits,  and  the  enlarged  acquaintance  with  the  world 
and  things  in  it  incidental  thereto  ;  (6)  To  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  pertaining  to  charity,  hospital- 
ity, friendship,  and  kindly  social  intercourse.  Such 
are  some  of  the  more  necessary,  fraternal,  beneficent, 
and  justifiable  expenditures  of  time,  as  the  days 
and  years  go  by.  And  they  are  quite  in  keeping 
with  the  spirit  and  letter  of  our  text  and  of  many 
other  passages  of  Scripture ;  such  for  instance  as 
the  following:  ''Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  his  righteousness."  *' Be  not  slothful  in  busi- 
ness." "  Be  not  children  in  understanding."  ''Study 
to  be  quiet  and  to  do  your  own  business  and  to 
work  with  your  own  hands  as  we  commanded  you." 
—  I  Thess.  iv.  11.  "When  we  were  with  you,  this 
we  commanded  you,  that  if  any  would  not  work 
neither  should  he  eat." — Thess.  iii.  10.  "Rejoice 
with  them  that  do  rejoice  and  weep  with  them  that 
weep."  "Giving  all  diligence,  add  to  your  faith, 
virtue  ;  and  to  virtue,  knowledge  ;  and  to  knowledge, 
temperance ;  and  to  temperance,  patience ;  and  to 
patience,  godliness ;  and  to  godliness,  brotherly- 
kindness;  and  to  brotherly-kindness,  charity."  — 
2  Peter  i.    5-7. 

3.  Opportunity  for  the  various  duties,  pursuits, 
and  purposes  of  life  comes  more  or  less  to  all  men  ; 
to  be  improved  or  neglected  as  each  one  may  will 
or  determine.      Opportunities  there  arc  for  religious 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  269 

and  moral  culture,  for  mental  training  and  attain- 
ment, for  useful  occupation  and  business  cares,  for 
rest,  recreation,  and  rational  amusement,  for  the 
various  ofifices  of  charity,  hospitality,  friendship,  and 
ordinary  social  intercourse,  A  few  have  exceptional 
opportunities  for  these  things  ;  the  many,  only  com- 
monplace and  customary  ones ;  still  other  few, 
meager  and  ineffective  ones.  Primitive  Christianity 
imperatively  enjoins  faithful  improvement  of  each 
and  all  of  these  ;  the  greatest  and  the  least  alike, 
as  it  does  of  talent  and  time  ;  excusing  no  neglect 
and  duly  crediting  and  honoring  fidelity  in  the 
humblest  as  well  as  in  the  most  exalted  and  influ- 
ential capacities  and  positions  ;  the  obligation  rest- 
ing upon  each  and  every  one  "  according  to  his 
several  ability."  Thus  it  is  said,  "  Well  done  good 
and  faithful  servant;  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a 
few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things  ; 
enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." — Matt.  xxv. 
23.  ''Whosoever  hath  to  him  shall  be  given;  and 
whosoever  hath  not,  from  him  shall  be  taken  even 
that  which  he  seemeth  to  have."  —  Luke  iii.  18. 
**  He  that  is  faithful  in  that  which  is  least  is  faithful 
also  in  much,  and  he  that  is  unjust  in  the  least  is. 
unjust  also  in  much."  —  Luke  xvi.  10.  "Take  heed 
therefore  that  the  light  which  is  in  thee  be  not  dark- 
ness."—  Luke  xi.  35.  "Walk  while  ye  have  the  light 
lest  darkness  come  upon  you."  "  While  ye  have 
light,  believe  in  the  light  that  ye  may  be  the  chil- 
dren of  light."  — JoJiu  xii.  35,  36.  "  Stand  there- 
fore, having  your  loins  girt  about  with  truth  and 
having  on  the  breastplate  of  righteousness."      "Pray- 


270  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

ing  always  with  all  prayer  and  supplication  in  the 
spirit  and  watching  thereunto  with  all  perseverance." 
—  Ephs.  xi.  14,  18.  **  Be  ready  to  every  good 
work." —  TiUis  iii.  i.  "To  do  good  and  to  com- 
municate forget  not  ;  for  with  such  sacrifices  God 
is  well  pleased."  —  Heb.  xiii.  16.  "As  we  have 
therefore  opportunity,  let  us  do  good  unto  all  men, 
especially  unto  them  who  are  of  the  household  of 
faith."  —  Gal.  vi.    10. 

From  the  foregoing  considerations  and  quotations 
it  is  made  to  appear  beyond  all  question  or  cavil 
that  the  pure  morality  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  re- 
quires those  acknowledging  allegiance  to  it  and  pro- 
fessing to  be  governed  by  its  principles  and  precepts, 
to  be  a  responsible,  diligent,  upright,  sober-minded, 
circumspect,  intelligent,  humane,  charitable  people, 
prepared  and  ready  for  every  good  word  and  work, 
as  well  as  for  every  new  revelation  of  truth  and 
duty  that  may  come  to  them  in  the  order  of  God's 
providence.  And  is  not  this  sound  doctrine  —  a 
high  and  indispensable  type  of  morality  .?  Undoubt- 
edly it  is,  and  absolutely  necessary  to  individual 
dignity  and  happiness,  to  the  welfare  of  families, 
and  to  the  most  elevated,  refined,  desirable  condi- 
tion of  civil  and  social  life.  How  unchristian  and 
ignoble  is  an  irresponsible,  indolent,  thriftless,  time- 
killing,  dawdling  man  or  woman,  who  spends  the 
swiftly  passing  days  and  years  in  doing  nothing  use- 
ful, or  as  a  busy-body  in  other  people's  matters,  or  as 
a  consumer  of  what  some  one  else  has  produced. 
Such  an  one  is  an  excrescence  upon  the  body  poli- 
tic—  a  nuisance  and  often  a  pest  in   human  society. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  271 

In  the  light  of  the  lessons  thus  brought  to  our 
attention,  every  one  should  in  all  seriousness  ask 
himself  the  following  heart-searching  questions  : 
Who  am  I  ?  How  came  I  into  the  world  ?  For 
what  purpose  or  end  was  I  created  ?  In  what  way 
can  I  realize  that  purpose  or  end  to  myself  and  to 
mankind  ?  To  what  good  and  noble  use  can  I  put 
my  varied  powers  of  body,  mind,  and  soul  ?  By 
what  means  can  I  improve  my  capabilities,  my 
time,  my  opportunities,  to  the  best  advantage  ;  rev- 
erently toward  my  Maker,  rightfully  toward  myself, 
and  fraternally  toward  my  fellow  human  beings  ? 
Christianity  as  Jesus  taught  and  exemplified  it  sets 
forth  and  magnifies  the  grand  fundamental  truth 
that  life  is  a  trust  —  a  sacred  trust  —  to  be  spent 
and  enjoyed  under  a  living  sense  of  personal  respon- 
sibility, and  to  be  consecrated  to  holy  aims  and 
beneficent  uses  that  relate  both  to  the  world  that 
now  is  and  to  that  which  is  to  come.  And  this 
statement  brings  to  mind  several  points  of  inter- 
esting inquiry  which  have  been  raised  touching  the 
subject   under  discussion. 

I.  It  has  been  queried  whether  this  primitive 
Christian  view  of  life  and  its  obligations,  as 
delineated,  makes  needful  provision  or  allowance 
for  that  freedom  from  care  and  anxiety,  that  refined 
and  luxurious  ease  consequent  upon  large  accumu- 
lations of  wealth,  social  distinction,  hereditary  rank, 
or  some  other  form  of  worldly  superiority  or  advan- 
tage. The  plea  is  sometimes  made  by  a  certain 
class  of  philosophers  that  man  naturally  desires 
to  rise  above  the  necessity  of  manual  or  other  forms 


272  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

of  labor;  the  necessity  of  being  harassed  by  the 
details  of  business,  etc.,  in  order  that  he  may  be 
at  liberty  to  enjoy  himself  as  he  pleases,  in  the 
gratification  of  his  inclinations  and  tastes,  so  long 
as  no  one  is  harmed  or  wronged  thereby  ;  and  that 
the  existence  of  a  class  of  persons  of  that  charac- 
ter in  society  is  calculated  to  promote  the  general 
welfare  and  advance  the  permanent  interests  of 
the  race.  What  have  I  to  say  to  this  criticism  of 
Primitive  Christianity  and  its  theory  of  life  and  its 
uses  ?  I  answer  that  no  such  aristocratic  or  superior 
class  is  contemplated  or  can  exist  under  the  pro- 
visions and  injunctions  of  the  religion  of  the  New 
Testament.  But  I  may  concede  that  as  the  world 
in  its  unregenerate  state  has  been  from  the  begin- 
ning until  now,  such  a  class  is  a  natural  and  inev- 
itable outgrowth  of  existing  conditions  of  individual 
and  social  life  and  indispensable  to  any  and  every 
hitherto  attainable  form  of  civilization.  And  so  it 
may  continue  to  be  for  generations  to  come,  or 
until  the  prevailing  social  and  moral  order  approxi- 
mates much  more  nearly  than  at  present  the  morality 
of  the  sermon  on  the  mount. 

I  do  not,  however,  concede  that  because  the 
worldly-minded  man,  or  the  man  content  to  live  and 
act  upon  the  existing  worldly  plane  of  human  affairs* 
naturally  desires  to  shirk  productive  industry,  active 
service,  and  all  the  graver  responsiblities  of  life,  so 
that  he  may  be  wholly  at  ease  and  enjoy  himself  as 
he  pleases,  it  is  therefore  best  for  himself  or  for 
others  that  he  should  do  so  —  best  for  his  own 
health    of    body,  mind,  and    spirit,  or    best    for    the 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  273 

community  in  which  he  resides  and  for  the  world. 
I  rather  consider  such  a  course  a  misfortune,  or 
perhaps  a  calamity  to  him  who  follows  it  and  to 
others  as  well.  To  have  no  great  and  noble  object 
to  live  for,  no  useful  occupation  or  calling  to  pursue, 
no  mission  of  active  service  of  truth,  virtue,  or 
humanity  to  fulfill,  is  to  me  as  dismal  and  forbid- 
ding as  it  is  foolish  and  wrong.  I  have  only  pity 
for  a  child  doomed  to  grow  up  amid  pampering 
wealth,  luxury,  and  ease,  and  so  to  be  trained  to 
inertia,  helpless  dependence,  and  soulless  effeminacy, 
or  perchance  to  splenetic  restlessness  and  joyless 
discontent,  and  not  to  self-reliance,  independence 
of  spirit,  and  other  essential  elements  of  a  manly 
and  noble  character.  I  pity  too  the  man  who  turns 
from  the  well-earned  success  of  a  stirring  and  hon- 
orable business  career,  loaded  with  wealth  and 
worldly  advantage,  and  hastens  to  stifle  and  destroy 
his  finer  sensibilities  and  his  more  exalted  powers 
by  luxurious  indulgence  and  enervating  pleasure. 
Child  of  folly  is  he,  "  paying  too  dear  for  his  whis- 
tle." Grinding  poverty  is  deplorable,  to  be  sure. 
So  is  excessive,  slavish  toil.  But  not  more  so  than 
the  opposite  extreme  at  which  I  have  hinted.  Solo- 
mon found  the  end  of  all  his  riches,  pleasures, 
and  luxuries,  to  be  *' vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit," 
and  by  sad  experience  learned  the  lesson  he  put  into 
Agur's  prayer  ;  "  Remove  far  from  me  vanity  and 
lies;  give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches:  Feed  me 
with  food  convenient  for  me:  Lest  I  be  full  and  deny 
thee,  and  say,  '  Who  is  the  Lord  '  ;  or  lest  I  be  poor 
and  steal,  and  take  the  name  of  my  God  in  vain." 


274  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

2.  There  are  some  who  wish  to  know  if  it  be 
not  a  defect  of  Primitive  Christianity  as  I  expound 
it  that  it  has  no  provision  for  recreation,  amuse- 
ment, merrymaking,  but  seems  to  hold  its  disciples 
to  one  continuous,  unrelieved  strain  of  sober,  ear- 
nest work  in  some  department  of  solid  usefulness, 
temporal  or  spiritual  ?  I  reply  (  i  )  There  is  little 
occasion  for  positive  religious  instruction  in  favor 
of  anything  of  this  sort,  any  more  than  there  is  of 
eating  and  drinking,  since  it  is  sure  to  assert 
its  claims  as  an  essential  need  of  human  nature  in 
a  way  not  to  be  ignored  or  underestimated.  (2) 
Christ  and  his  early  disciples  incidentally  recognized 
approvingly  and  participated  in  the  festivities  and 
pastimes  of  their  day  and  generation.  ( 3 )  They 
forbade  nothing  of  the  kind,  only  so  be  it  was 
innocent  and  healthful  and  strictly  conformed  to 
those  great  principles  of  truth  and  duty  which  were 
to  govern  all  human  action.  It  was  far  better 
therefore  to  leave  this  matter  open  and  free,  as 
was  done  with  many  other  human  interests,  rather 
than  to  control  it  by  specific  precepts  and  regula- 
tions. Besides,  if  avowed  followers  of  Christ  live 
up  to  their  privileges  and  duties  they  will  suffer 
little  for  want  of  mere  professional  amusement, 
their  faith,  hope,  love,  being  to  them  an  ever-flowing 
fountain  of  gladness  and  joy  ;  while  any  incidental 
diversion  or  merriment  will  be  as  innocent  and 
pleasurable  as  it  is  natural  and  spontaneous.  It  is 
care-worn  worldlings,  the  devotees  of  wealth  and 
fashion,  weary  plodders  in  some  field  of  deep 
research,  and    those    chasing    after    emptiness    and 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  275 

vanity,  who  find  life  tiresome  or  unendurable  with- 
out frequent  resorts  to  artificial  pleasures  and 
delights  to  cheer  them  in  their  onward  pilgrimage. 
The  misfortune  of  such  is  that  they  are  liable  to 
fall  into  excesses  in  their  search  for  relaxation  and 
enjoyment  which  are  perilous  alike  to  health  and 
morals,  and  against  which  they  should  constantly 
be  on  guard.  Innocent  and  invigorating  amusement 
held  to  proper  limitations  the  morality  of  the  Gos- 
pel in  no  wise  prohibits  or  condemns,  but  allows 
and  justifies. 

3.  Again,  there  are  those  who  depreciate  and 
make  objection  to  New  Testament  Christianity  on 
the  ground  that  it  ignores  or  at  least  underesti- 
mates the  importance  of  scientific  research  and 
attainment,  belles-lettres,  the  culture  of  the  fine 
arts,  etc.,  and  by  implication  regards  the  talent, 
time,  and  opportunity  devoted  to  these  and  kindred 
interests  as  misdirected,  wasted,  or  abused.  To 
such  objection  or  criticism  I  reply  that  if  the  things 
referred  to  were  absolutely  essential  to  human  vir- 
tue and  happiness,  or  were  a  constituent  part  of 
pure  and  undefiled  religion,  the  point  raised  would 
be  of  serious  consequence.  But  they  are  not,  in 
my  judgment.  Innocent  of  harm  and  worthy  of 
respect  and  approbation  in  and  of  themselves,  yet 
they  are  practically  good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  accord- 
ing to  the  use  made  of  them.  They  are  in  their 
very  nature  unmoral,  and  have  no  inherent  tendency, 
independent  of  conscience  and  the  religious  senti- 
ment, to  render  those  devoted  to  them  or  mankind 
at  large  truly  wise,  upright,  pure,  generous,  benevo- 


276  PKIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

lent,  Godlike.  In  fact  their  devotees,  as  a  class, 
are  much  like  the  common  average  of  men,  selfish, 
bigoted,  heartless,  inhuman,  unless  their  scientific, 
aesthetic,  or  artistic  tastes  and  tempers  are  softened 
and  sanctified  by  a  loving  and  devout  spirit.  Indeed, 
there  is  a  marked  tendency  among  them  to  an  exclu- 
sive empiricism  or  charlatanry,  a  professional  con- 
ceit, and  a  corresponding  contempt  of  those  outside 
their  own  special  circle,  however  exemplary  and 
noble  such  outsiders  may  be  in  all  moral  and  spirit- 
ual qualities. 

To  be  sure,  the  Christian  religion  does  not  dis- 
tinctively commend  and  enjoin  the  several  pursuits 
referred  to ;  neither  does  it  condemn  them  or  in 
in  any  way  hinder  progress  in  them  towards  the 
highest  possible  results.  It  rather  approves  them 
as  the  outcome  of  the  divinely-ordered  nature  of 
man,  and  as  ministers  under  wise  guidance  to 
human  development,  growth  of  character,  and  the 
higher  life  of  the  world.  Their  place  in  human 
thought  and  confidence,  as  in  the  divine  plan  of 
the  universe,  is  a  subordinate  and  not  a  controlling 
one,  and,  in  reference  to  them  as  to  many  other 
concerns  of  humanity,  it  may  be  said,  "Seek  ye 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness  and 
then  may  all  these  things  be  added  unto  you." 
Whenever  I  see  scientists,  or  artists  of  any  name, 
or  votaries  of  literature,  or  poets,  or  any  other  class 
devoted  to  some  special  line  of  study  or  achieve- 
ment, treating  God,  or  Christ,  or  the  principles  and 
precepts  of  the  New  Testament  disdainfully,  or  cast- 
ing contempt   upon   the  champions  or  disciples,  how- 


AND    ITS    CORRTTPTIOXS.  277 

ever  humble  they  may  be,  of  moral  and  religious 
truth,  I  can  but  regard  them  as  foolish  and  blind, 
having  mistaken  the  secondary  for  the  primary,  and 
turning  away  from  divine  and  eternal  realities  to  those 
things  that  at  best  are  but  subordinate  and  tribu- 
tary thereto.  Alas  for  those  who,  absorbed  in  the 
contemplation  of  the  wonders,  and  glories  of  the 
material  universe,  cannot  discern  in  them  the  foot- 
prints of  Deity — who  can  not  look  through  nature 
up  to  nature's  God.  Alas  for  those  literati  who  are 
so  bewildered  by  the  scintillations  of  genius  or  the 
charms  of  polite  and  refined  literature  that  they 
have  no  appreciation  of  moral  and  spiritual  verities, 
and  of  those  divine  qualities  of  heart  and  soul  which 
are  the  everlasting  adornments  of  human  character, 
and  which  render  finite  man  most  like  the  infinite 
Father  in  heaven.  And  alas  also  for  those  who  can 
admire  the  beautiful,  the  grand,  the  lovely,  in  nature 
and  in  art ;  in  landscape  and  in  sky  ;  in  painting 
and  sculpture;  but  who  have  no  eye  to  see  the 
transcendant  beauty  of  holiness,  the  loveliness  of 
truth,  justice,  mercy,  self-sacrifice;  the  grandeur  and 
majesty  of  a  life  consecrated  to  noble  ends  and  aims, 
and  radiant  with  the  gentleness,  grace,  and  peace  of 
Christ. 

I  therefore  conclude  the  present  discourse,  which 
completes  my  exposition  of  th&  distinctive  morality 
of  Primitive  Christianity,  by  repeating  the  claim  that 
such  morality  as  Christ  taught  by  both  precept  and 
example,  in  its  application  to  the  use  of  the  talents, 
the  time,  and  the  opportunity  of  which  we  all  are 
to  greater  or  less  extent  in  charge,  is  of  pre-eminent 


278  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY. 

and  unrivalled  excellence.  And  it  becomes  us  all, 
if  we  are  believers  in  that  morality,  and  acknowl- 
edge the  obligations  it  imposes  upon  us,  to  order 
our  lives  in  the  respects  brought  to  notice  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  and  requirements  herein  set  forth, 
illustrated,  and  commended  to  the  favorable  consid- 
eration of  my  hearers.  So  shall  we  be  found  worthy 
to  receive  the  approving  plaudit  of  our  own  con- 
sciences and  of  the  righteous  Judge  of  all  his  sub- 
jects, ''Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant;  thou 
hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee 
ruler  over  many  things  ;  enter  into  the  joy  of  your 
Lord." 

All  hail,  thou  promised  day, 

When  ethics  so  sublime 
Shall  the  last  vestige  sweep  away 

Of  selfishness  and  crime  ! 

When  Zion's  Prince  of  Peace 

Shall  every  wrong  redress ; 
Shall  bring  to  slaves  of  sin  release, 

And  all  earth's  millions  bless. 

Then  shall  the  nations  sing, 

In  joyous  grand  refrain, 
Glad  anthems  to  their  heavenly  king, 

Whose  right  it  is  to  reign. 


DISCOURSE  XX. 

rRIMITIVE    CHRISTIAN   MORALITY   vs.     WORLDLY 
MORALITY. 

"  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth  ;  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  his 
savour,  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted?  It  is  thenceforth  good 
for  nothing-  but  to  be  cast  out  and  to  be  trodden  under  foot 
of  men.  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world.  A  city  that  is  set 
on  a  hill  cannot  be  hid.  Neither  do  men  light  a  candle  and 
put  it  under  a  bushel  but  on  a  candle-stick,  and  it  giveth 
light  unto  all  that  are  in  the  house.  Let  your  light  so  shine 
before  men  that  they  may  see  your  good  works  and  glorify 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven." — Matt.  v.  13-16. 

"  If  therefore  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness  how 
great  is  that  darkness!" — Matt.  vi.  23. 

"  They  are  not  of  the  world  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world. 
Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth ;  thy  word  is  truth.  As  thou 
hast  sent  me  into  the  world,  even  so  have  1  also  sent  them 
into  the  world." — Johti  xvii.  16-18. 

Having  given  in  previous  discourses  a  somewhat 
thorough  exposition  of  my  views  upon  the  primitive 
morality  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  it  is  now  incum- 
bent on  me  to  unveil  the  more  noteworthy  corrup- 
tions thereof  which  have  taken  place  in  the  church 
since  the  middle  of  the  second  century  and  which 
to  a  considerable  extent  have  been  perpetuated  unto 
the  present  day.  In  order  to  do  this  effectively,  it 
seems  necessary  at  the  start  to  take  a  hasty  glance 
at   what   may  be  termed  worldly  morality  in  general, 


280  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

as  distinguished  from  Christian  morality,  and  espec- 
ially in  its  prevailing  form  at  the  time  when  Jesus 
appeared  in  Judea  and  went  about  doing  good. 
Also  to  bring  to  notice  in  contrast  therewith,  the 
actual  virtue  and  piety  existing  among  Christian 
believers  before  any  marked  deterioration  took  place. 
By  this  method  the  cause,  the  nature,  the  progres- 
sive evolution,  and  the  extent  of  the  mischief  done 
can  be  the  more  fully  disclosed  and  understood. 
And  so  I  beg  leave  to  call  attention  to  a  few  impor- 
tant particulars. 

I.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  world  as  a 
whole  as  well  as  each  and  every  considerable  uni- 
tary portion  of  it,  like  a  nation,  or  a  race,  or  a  tribe, 
has  always  had  a  morality  of  some  sort  ;  that  is, 
some  acknowledged  standard  of  duty — some  com- 
monly recognized  ideas  of  what  is  right,  proper, 
allowable  in  human  conduct,  and  what  not  so. 
The  general  moral  standard  of  mankind  at  large 
differs  from  age  to  age  as  does  that  of  the  several 
nations  or  peoples  of  the  earth.  But  some  such 
standard  always  exists,  higher  or  lower,  more  or 
less  perfect.  It  is  a  legitimate  outgrowth  of  the 
moral  element  in  human  nature.  Some  standards 
have  been  and  are  essentially  religious ;  others, 
ethical  ;  others  philosophical,  or  civic,  or  chivalric, 
as  the  case  may  be  ;  and  others  of  a  mongrel  char- 
acter difficult  to  classify  or  name.  What  may  be 
called  worldly  morality,  or  the  morality  of  mankind 
as  a  whole,  is  of  this  complex  nature.  It  is  a  con- 
sensus of  opinion  or  average  moral  judgment  derived 
from     the    various    religions,    su[)crstitions,    philoso- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  281 

phies,  civic  laws,  codes  of  honor,  social  customs, 
personal  habits  and  practices,  prevailing  at  any 
given  period  of  human  history.  It  is  much  the 
same  with  the  morality  of  any  particular  nation  or 
group  of  kindred  nations.  In  select  circles  and 
among  the  more  closely  allied  portions  of  the  peo- 
ple, we  find  more  definite  and  sometimes  stringent 
standards  of  duty  and  righteousness  ;  with  the  more 
loosely  affiliated  and  less  intelligent  and  moral, 
rather  indefinite  and  elastic  ones ;  and  with  the 
gross  multitude,  very  vague  and  easygoing  ones. 
In  general  society  and  throughout  the  community 
at  large  in  any  land  or  time,  the  law  of  the  state 
or  nation  interwoven  with  general  custom  and  the 
prevailing  fashion,  and  having  a  background  of  mili- 
tary necessity,  determines  to  the  large  majority  of 
people  the  course  of  conduct  to  be  pursued  in  the 
ordinary  affairs  of  life.  Even  to  this  standard  many 
prove  delinquent,  and  have  to  be  made  subject  to 
it  by  severe  discipline  and  the  power  of  mag- 
istracy. Beyond  and  above  this  there  may  be  to 
certain  ones  some  vague  superstitious  fear  of  a 
vindictive  God  and  His  possible  retributions,  about 
which,  however,  they  practically  ^care  but  little, 
except  when  startled  by  some  frightful  calamity  or 
aroused  by  pungent  and  declamatory  exhortation. 
It  is  because  there  are  so  many  people  of  this 
description  in  the  world — so  many  who  have  no 
higher  law  of  duty  to  live  by  —  that  human  govern- 
ments, fortified  by  penal  laws  and  military  force,  have 
always  been  indispensable  to  civil  and  social  order 
and    the    common    welfare.     And    they    will    never 


282  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

cease  to  be  so  until  by  the  regenerating  processes 
of  truth  and  love  such  people  in  large  numbers 
shall  no  longer  exist  upon  the  earth.  Christianity- 
proposes  to  rid  the  world  of  them  by  such  processes, 
which  shall  result  in  raising  them  to  its  own  sub- 
lime level,  where  a  living  sense  of  duty  in  their 
own  souls  and  a  clear  revelation  of  the  will  and 
law  of  God  shall  hold  them  back  from  overt  acts 
of  wrong  and  keep  their  feet  in  the  way  of  right- 
eousness, without  the  aid  of  magistrates  and  courts, 
of  penal  inflictions  and  the  strong  arm  of  injurious 
force.  Meanwhile,  the  more  respectable  and  refined, 
those  somewhat  higher  in  the  moral  scab,  as  they 
are  in  manners  and  in  social  position,  yet  bound  to 
the  same  fundamental  system  of  civil  and  social 
order  as  they  are  partners  in  it,  will  have  made 
corresponding  advance,  contributing  their  propor- 
tionate share  to  the  general  uplifting  and  enlight- 
enment, to  the  diffusion  of  higher  and  nobler 
principles  of  action  and  a  humaner  spirit,  and  to  the 
coming  of  the  day  when  God  shall  write  His  law 
upon  the  hearts  of  men  and  they  shall  be  governed 
thereby  rather  than  by  human  enactments,  popular 
opinion,  prevailing  custom,  and  the  fashion  of  the 
time.  Primitive  Christianity  demands  of  its  con- 
fessors fealty  to  its  own  high  standard  of  morality 
based  upon  the  two  great  commands  of  love  to 
God  and  man,  and  disregard  of  all  lower  ones  as 
more  or  less  treasonable  to  Him  whose  right  it  is  to 
rule,  and  prejudicial  to  human  good  and  happiness. 

2.     And  so  I  am  led  to  remark   that    it    is    hard 
to  rise  above  the  prevailing    morality  of    one's    age 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  28S 

and  country  and  still  harder  to  keep  above  it  per- 
sistently and  continuously.  The  reasons  for  this 
are  easily  ascertained  and  brought  to  light,  (i)  By 
so  doing  one  loses  sympathy,  social  position,  van- 
tage ground,  and  many  desirable  possessions  and 
enjoyments.  To  be  unpopular,  to  stand  alone,  to 
give  up  agreeable  associations,  as  one  must  do  in 
such  a  case  —  to  incur  obloquy,  ostracism,  censure, 
denunciation  perhaps,  is  painful  to  the  great  major- 
ity of  people.  (2)  He  who  dissents  from  the  com- 
mon judgment  of  his  fellow-men  cuts  himself  off 
from  most  of  the  prerogatives,  honors,  and  emolu- 
ments which  they  are  ready  to  give  to  their  favorites 
and  those  ready  to  further  their  special  ends  and 
aims.  He  must  do  his  work  for  God  and  man  in 
humble,  unappreciated,  thankless  ways,  requiring 
that  keen  moral  insight,  fidelity  to  duty,  courage, 
and  firmness  which  few  men  possess  or  can  com- 
mand. (3)  One  seeking  to  live  by  a  higher  stand- 
ard than  that  of  the  general  public  must  for  con- 
science' sake  forego  many  opportunities  of  doing 
the  good  he  desires  in  co-operation  with  others  by 
customary  social  and  political  methods  and  means, 
on  account  of  the  obligations  and  responsibilities  he 
is  required  to  assume  as  a  condition  of  such  co- 
operation. At  the  same  time,  for  refusing  to  accede 
to  the  prescribed  conditions  and  thus  cutting  him- 
self off  from  activities  in  which  he  would  be  happy 
to  engage,  he  must  suffer  the  reproaches  of  less 
enlightened  and  less  conscientious  persons  who 
accuse  him  of  standing  idly  by  when  a  wrong 
needs  correcting  or  a  right   thing  needs  promotion,. 


284 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 


and  doing  nothing  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
desirable  and  praiseworthy  object  in  view.  Yet 
such  a  person  true  to  his  principles  and  faithful  to 
the  higher  light  that  has  been  given  him,  is,  in  the 
long  run,  doing  more  for  the  cause  of  truth,  for  his 
country  and  his  kind,  than  the  most  stirring  actor 
on  the  lower  plane  of  temporizing  expediency  and 
immediate  seeming  success.  Few  are  wise  and 
good  enough  to  maintain  so  high  and  impregnable 
a  position,  necessary  though  it  be  to  the  world's 
regeneration.  And  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  early 
church  after  a  time  fell  from  it  under  the  influence 
of  powerful  temptation,  grew  corrupt,  and  by  a  fatal 
compromise  lowered  its  standard  to  the  moral  level 
of  that  of  the  world  at  large  as  represented  by  the 
Roman  empire,  within  whose  boundaries  it  was  set 
up.  Even  in  our  own  day  we  see  reformers,  philan- 
thropists, professing  Christians  of  every  name,  doing 
the  same  thing ;  conforming  to  the  maxims  and 
practices  of  political  managers  and  counting  the 
instrumentality  of  civil  government  as  the  chief 
staff  of  accomplishment.  Religion,  philanthropy, 
moral  reform  are  of  little  value  in  their  esteem  as 
agencies  of  human  progress  and  redemption  without 
the  sceptre,  the  purse,  and  the  sword  of  political 
power  ;  without  the  caucus,  the  ballot,  the  penal 
statute,  the  court-house,  the  prison,  the  gallows,  and 
a  mighty  armament  of  deadly  force.  Not  so  thought 
Christ  and  his  primitive  disciples,  who  stood  firmly 
and  uncompromisingly  aloof  from  and  grandly  above 
everything. of  the  kind,  as  they  wrought  their  blessed 
work. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  285- 

3.  And  now  let  us  consider  what  was  the  actual 
•prevailing  morality  of  primitive  Christian  days  in  Pal- 
estine and  throughout  the  then  known  world.  There 
were  at  that  time,  no  doubt,  as  there  always  have 
been,  individuals  and  associated  groups  of  people,, 
whose  ethical  code  was  far  above  that  of  the 
general  mass  of  men.  And  the  common  code 
had,  without  question,  many  excellent  and  com- 
mendable features.  But  the  average  moral  status 
of  society  was  nevertheless  deplorably  low  and  vic- 
ious. Josephus  gives  us  a  graphic  description  of 
it  as  it  was  among  the  Jews.  We  can  hardly 
conceive  of  anything  more  revolting.  And  Roman 
historians  and  other  Gentile  authors  testify  to  the 
abominations  which  existed  in  all  directions,  among 
all  ranks  and  grades  of  social  and  political,  and 
even  of  religious,  life.  Many  of  the  gods  of  the 
Greek  and  Roman  mythologies  were  infamous  in 
character  —  rapacious,  unjust,  wanton,  vindictive, 
cruel.  Naturally  those  who  worshiped  and  imi- 
tated them  were  not  likely  to  excel  them  in  virtue 
and   moral   worth. 

The  morality  of  the  leading  Jewish  religionists 
of  that  day  —  of  those  who  ministered  at  the  altars 
of  faith  and  piety,  who  served  in  the  sanctuaries  of 
the  Most  High  among  the  ancient  people  of  God, 
was  scarcely  better  than  that  of  the  lower  classes, 
or  that  of  the  Gentile  nations.  Its  quality  is  readily 
determined  by  the  fact  that  it  so  often  fell  under 
the  ban  of  the  Master's  stern  rebuke  and  condemna- 
tion. His  most  emphatic  denunciations,  his  most 
poignant  woes,  were  pronounced  against   men   stand- 


286  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

ing  high  in  the  Church  —  chief-priests,  Scribes, 
Pharisees  — "  who  make  broad  their  phylacteries 
and  enlarge  the  borders  of  their  garments,  and 
love  the  uppermost  room  at  feasts,  and  the  chief 
seats  in  the  synagogues,  and  greetings  in  the  mar- 
kets, and  to  be  called  of  men  Rabbi,  Rabbi,"  for 
they  were  "like  whited  sepulchres  which  indeed 
appear  beautiful  outward  but  are  within  full  of  dead 
men's  bones  and  all  uncleanness."  They  ''paid 
tithe  of  mint,  and  annis,  and  cummin,  and  omitted 
the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy, 
and  faith;"  they  "devoured  widow's  houses  and 
for  a  pretense  made  long  prayers ; "  they  "  made 
clean  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  the  platter  but 
within  they  were  full  of  extortion  and  excess;" 
they  "bound  heavy  burdens  and  grievous  to  be  borne 
and  laid  them  on  men's  shoulders,  but  would  not 
move  them  with  one  of  their  fingers;"  "all  their 
works  they  did  to  be  seen  of  men  ; "  they  "appeared 
outwardly  righteous  unto  men  but  within  they  were 
full  of  hypocrisy  and  iniquity."  Such  being  the 
character  of  the  leaders  in  the  Jewish  church  and 
ministers  of  religion,  it  is  no  marvel  that  the  stand- 
ard of  morality  among  the  masses  of  the  people 
was  low  and  inadequate,  or  that  the  representation 
of  the  abounding  profligacy  and  wickedness  of  Jew- 
ish society  in  the  times  under  notice  was  substan- 
tially correct  —  true  to  the  existing  facts  in  the 
case. 

And  Paul  in  numerous  passages  of  his  epistles, 
notably  in  the  first  chapter  of  his  letter  to  the 
Romans,  portrays    the    widely    existing    demoraliza- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPT  ' 


287 


tion  of  non-Jewish  people  and  nations.  "  Professing 
themselves  to  be  wise  "  he  says,  ''  they  became  fools 
and  changed  the  glory  of  the  invisible  God  into  an 
image  made  like  to  corruptible  man,  and  to  birds, 
and  four-footed  beasts,  and  creeping  things.  Where- 
fore God  gave  them  up  to  uncleanness  through  the 
lusts  of  their  own  hearts,  to  dishonor  their  own 
bodies  between  themselves  ;  who  changed  the  truth 
of  God  into  a  lie  and  served  and  worshipped  the 
creature  more  than  the  Creator,  who  is  blessed 
forever. — Rom.'x.  22-25.  And  again:  "  Being  filled 
with  all  unrighteousness,  fornication,  wickedness, 
covetousness,  maliciousness ;  full  of  envy,  murder, 
debate,  deceit,  malignity ;  whisperers,  backbiters, 
haters  of  God,  despiteful,  proud,  boasters,  inventors 
of  evil  things,  disobedient  to  parents,  without  under- 
standing, covenant  breakers,  without  natural  affec- 
tion, implacable,  unmerciful ;  who,  knowing  the 
judgment  of  God  that  they  which  commit  such 
things  are  worthy  of  death,  not  only  do  the  same, 
but  have  pleasure  in  those  that  do  them." — Rom.  i. 
29-32.  A  gruesome  and  revolting  picture  truly, 
but  not  more  so  than  the  facts  in  the  case,  as 
attested  to  by  Gentile  writers  themselves,  warrant 
and  corroborate. 

Over  against  this  gross  and  widely-prevailing 
immorality  and  brutishness  stands  the  pure  ethical 
ideal  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  as  I  have  in  previous 
discourses  delineated  it  ;  an  ideal  born  of  the  right- 
ousness  of  the  infinite  God,  taught  and  practically 
illustrated,  first  by  the  Master  himself  and  after- 
ward   by    those    professing    allegiance    to     him    and 


288  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

authorized  to  propagate  the  truth  and  grace  which 
came  by  liim  as  far  and  wide  as  possible  among 
men.  That  ideal  they  magnified  and  proclaimed 
with  a  fidelity  and  self-sacrificing  devotion  unprec- 
edented in  the  history  of  mankind.  And  their 
success  was  as  marvelous  as  it  was  sublime.  In 
the  space  of  two  centuries  they  wrought  among 
large  numbers  of  the  common  people  of  Asia 
Minor,  Greece,  and  Rome,  a  moral  revolution  ; 
most  radical,  salutary,  expansive,  the  results  whereof 
no  language  can  adequately  describe.  Their  work 
did  not  reach  its  culmination  till  near  the  end 
of  the  third  century,  though  it  began  to  lose  some- 
what of  its  power  a  hundred  years  before  ;  from 
which  time  it  gradually  declined  until  finally  over- 
come and  brought  to  an  end  by  the  overwhelming 
forces  of  worldliness,  political  ambition,  and  sinful 
indulgence,   marshalled  against  it. 

That  the  ideal  morality  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
was  to  a  large  degree  exemplified  in  the  early 
church  is  the  testimony  of  both  sacred  and  so- 
called  profane  history.  The  enemies  of  the  new 
religion,  who,  for  political  or  other  reasons,  sought 
to  hinder  its  progress  and  overthrow  it,  were  busy 
in  inventing  all  sorts  of  slanders  against  its  disci- 
ples, in  order  to  create  a  feeling  of  hostility  to  them 
in  the  public  mind.  They  charged  them  with  vari- 
ous criminalities  with  a  view  of  having  them  brought 
before  the  civil  tribunals  and  condemned,  either  as 
traitors  to  the  government  or  as  dangerous  elements 
in  society.  To  these  unfounded  and  malicious  cal- 
umnies   numerous     refutations    or    apologies    were 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  289 

written  by  prominent  Fathers  in  the  church,  who 
were  therefore  called  Apologists,  some  of  the  more 
masterly  of  which  have  been  preserved  to  this  day, 
affording  us  testimonies  worthy  of  notice  in  this 
connection.  They  were  designed  to  enlighten  the 
minds  of  the  more  influential  in  general  society 
and  in  the  government  and  so  allay  increasing 
hostility  and  prevent  persecution.  To  some  extent, 
no  doubt,  the  object  in  view  was  accomplished. 
From  these  Apologies  I   subjoin  a  few  extracts. 

Justin  Martyr,  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  Chris- 
tian Fathers,  living  in  the  second  century,  in  his 
plea  for  his  brethren  addressed  to  the  emperor, 
Antoninus  Pius,  which  was  instrumental  in  bringing 
the  then  existing  persecution  to  an  end,  writes  thus: 
"  We  follow  the  only  unbegotten  God  through  his 
son  ;  we,  who  formerly  delighted  in  fornication  but 
now  embrace  chastity  alone  ;  we,  who  formerly  used 
magical  arts,  dedicate  ourselves  to  the  good  and 
unbegotten  God  ;  we,  who  valued  above  all  things 
the  acquisition  of  wealth  and  possessions  now  bring 
what  we  have  into  a  common  stock  and  communicate 
to  every  one  in  need  ;  we,  who  hated  and  destroyed 
one  another  and  on  account  of  their  different  man- 
ners would  not  live  with  men  of  a  different  tribe, 
now,  since  the  coming  of  Christ,  live  familiarly 
with  them  and  pray  for  our  enemies,  and  endeavor 
to  persuade  those  who  hate  us  unjustly  to  live  con- 
formably to  the  precepts  of  Christ." — Aiite-Nicene 
Library,  Vol.  II,  p.  17.  "We  have  been  taught, 
and  are  convinced,  and  do  believe  that  He  (  God  ) 
accepts  those  only  who  imitate  the  excellences  that 


290  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

reside  in  Him  ;  temperance,  and  justice,  and  phil- 
anthropy, and  as  many  virtues  as  are  peculiar  to  a 
God  who  is  called  by  no  proper  name,"  —  lb.  pp. 
13,  14.  "We  ought  not  to  strive,  neither  has  He 
(Christ)  desired  us  to  be  imitators  of  wicked  men; 
but  He  has  exhorted  us  to  lead  all  men  by  patience 
and  gentleness  from  shame  and  the  love  of  evil. 
And  this  indeed  is  proved  in  the  case  of  many 
who  were  once  of  your  way  of  thinking,  but  have 
changed  their  violent  and  tyrannical  disposition* 
being  overcome  by  the  constancy  which  they  have 
witnessed  in  their  neighbors'  lives,  or  by  the  extraor- 
dinary forbearance  they  have  observed  in  their 
fellow-travellers  when  defrauded,  or  by  the  honesty 
of  those  with  whom  they  have  transacted  business." 
—  lb,  p.  20.  **  On  the  day  called  Sunday  all  who 
live  in  cities  or  in  the  country  come  together  in 
one  place,  and  the  memoirs  of  the  apostles  or  writ- 
ings of  the  prophets  are  read  ;  *  *  *  the  president 
verbally  instructs  and  exhorts  to  the  imitation  of 
these  good  things.  Then  we  all  rise  together  and 
pray  and  *  *  *  when  our  prayer  is  ended,  bread 
and  wine  and  water  are  brought  ;  *  *  *  and  there 
is  a  distribution  to  each  *  *  *  and  to  those  who 
are  absent  a  portion  is  sent  by  the  deacons.  And 
they  who  are  well  to  do  and  willing  give  what  each 
thinks  fit  ;  and  what  is  collected  is  deposited  with 
the  president  who  succors  the  orphans  and  widows 
and  those  who  through  sickness  or  any  other  cause 
are  in  want,  and  those  who  are  in  bonds,  and  the 
strangers  sojourning  among  us,  and  in  a  word  takes 
care  of  all   who  are  in   need." — lb.  p.  65. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  291 

Athenagoras,  a  Grecian  philosopher  converted  to 
Christianity,  in  an  appeal  to  one  of  the  emperors 
disproving  the  charges  of  atheism,  profligacy,  and 
cannibalism  that  were  current  against  Christians, 
says:  ''We  have  learned  not  only  not  to  return  blow 
for  blow,  nor  to  go  to  law  with  those  who  plunder 
and  rob  us,  but  to  those  who  smite  us  on  one  side 
of  the  face  to  offer  the  other  side  also,  and  to 
those  who  take  away  our  coat  to  give  likewise  our 
cloak."  —  lb.  p.  376.  "Allow  me  here  to  lift  up  my 
voice  boldly  in  loud  and  audible  outcry,  pleading 
as  I  do  before  philosophic  princes.  For  who  of 
those  that  reduce  syllogisms,  and  clear  up  ambigui- 
ties, and  explain  etymologies,  etc.  and  who  promise 
their  disciples  by  these  and  such  like  instructions 
to  make  them  happy  ;  who  of  them  have  so  purged 
their  souls  as  instead  of  hating  their  enemies  to 
love  them  ;  and  instead  of  speaking  ill  of  those 
who  have  reviled  them  *  *  *  to  bless  them  and  to 
pray  for  those  who  plot  against  their  lives  .^  "  "But 
among  us  you  will  find  uneducated  persons  and 
artisans  and  old  women  who  if  they  are  unable  by 
words  to  prove  the  benefit  of  our  doctrine  yet  by 
their  deeds  exhibit  the  benefit  arising  from  their 
persuasion  of  its  truth ;  they  do  not  rehearse  speeches 
but  manifest  good  works  ;  when  struck  they  do  not 
strike  again  ;  when  robbed  they  do  not  go  to 
law ;  they  give  to  those  that  ask  them  and  love 
their  neighbors  as  themselves."  —  Ih.  pp.  386,  7. 
"Our  account  lies  not  with  human  laws  which 
a  bad  man  can  evade  *'  *  *  but  we  have  a  law 
which    makes    the    measure   of    rectitude  to  consist 


292  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

in  dealing  with  our  neighbors  as  ourselves." — lb. 
p.  416. 

These  views  of  the  high  morality  of  the  follow- 
ers of  Christ  during  the  opening  centuries  of  our 
era,  though  given  by  witnesses  from  within  the  pale 
of  the  church,  are  yet  entitled  not  simply  to  respect- 
ful consideration  but  to  unhesitating  confidence. 
The  circumstances  under  which  they  were  origi- 
nally made  public  and  the  effect  produced  by  them 
are  a  sufficient  warrant  for  such  confidence.  More- 
over, they  receive  substantial  corroboration  from  so 
distinguished  a  historian  as  Edward  Gibbon,  whose 
well-known  skeptical  turn  of  mind  relieves  him  of 
all  suspicion  of  partiality  for  disciples  of  Christ  in 
either  ancient  or  modern  times.  In  the  Fifteenth 
Chapter  of  his  ''History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall 
of  the  Roman  Empire "  he  testifies  in  numerous 
paragraphs  to  the  exceptional  moral  character  of 
the  primitive  Christian,  who,  he  says,  "demon - 
stated  his  faith  by  his  virtues;"  adding  that  "it 
was  very  justly  supposed  that  the  divine  persuasion, 
which  enlightened  or  subdued  the  understanding, 
must,  at  the  same  time,  purify  the  heart  and  direct 
the  actions  of  the  believer."  He  also  undertakes 
to  present  certain  reasons  or  motives  which  in  his 
judgment  "might  render  the  lives  of  the  primitive 
Christians  much  purer  and  more  austere  than  those 
of  their  Pagan  contemporaries  or  their  degenerate 
successors." 

Such  then  was  the  morality  of  the  followers  of 
the  great  Nazarene  in  those  days  when  even  their 
enemies    were    constrained    to    exclaim,    "  See    how 


AND    ITS    CORKUPTIONS.  293 

these  Christians  love  one  another."  Oh,  that  this 
sublime  morality  had  been  transmitted  in  its  integ- 
rity and  purity,  faithfully  and  incorruptibly  down  to 
our  own  age  ?  What  a  vast  and  glorious  regenera- 
tive work  would  have  been  wrought  ere  this,  and 
how  much  nearer  than  now  should  we  be  to  the 
perfect  kingdom  of  God  on  the  earth. 


DISCOURSE    XXI. 

INCIPIENT    COEEUPTIONS    OF    PBIMITIVE 
CHRISTIAN  MORALITY. 

"Ye  did  run  well.  Who  did  hinder  you  that  ye  should  not 
obey  the  truth?  This  persuasion  cometh  not  of  him  that 
calleth  you.  A  little  leaven  leaveneth  the  whole  lump."  — 
Gal.  V.  7-9. 

I  am  now  to  treat  of  the  corruptions  which  tar- 
nished the  surpassing  splendors  of  primitive  Chris- 
tian Morality  during  a  brief  period  subsequent  to 
the  middle  of  the  second  century,  confining  myself 
in  the  present  discourse  to  what  transpired  between 
that  date  and  the  year  325,  which  was  signalized 
by  the  union  of  church  and  state  under  the  auspices 
of  Constantine  the  Great,  first  Christian  emperor 
of  Rome.  In  volume  one  of  this  work  I  traced 
the  development  of  theological  corruption  in  those 
early  as  well  as  in  later  times,  and  in  the  opening 
chapters  of  the  present  one  have-  done  the  same 
in  respect  to  the  perversion  of  what  I  call  the 
pietistic  side  of  religion.  The  causes  that  wrought 
mischief  in  those  particulars  produced  a  correspond- 
ing effect  upon  the  characters  and  lives  of  Christian 
believers, —  upon  the  moral  standing  of  the  church. 
It  was  difficult  to  sustain  such  a  pure  and  exalted 
theology,  piety,  or  morality  as  Primitive   Christian- 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY.  295 

ity  embodied  against  the  opposing  downward  pres- 
sure of  the  unregenerate  world,  and  the  wonder  is 
that  they  remained  firm  and  unyielding  as  long  as 
they  did  ;  the  moral  element  withstanding  the 
adverse  forces  more  persistently  and  successfully 
than  the  others.  That  did  not  show  any  percepti- 
ble indications  of  compromise  or  deterioration  till 
towards  the  end  of  the  second  century,  and  then 
not  to  an  alarming  extent.  In  fact,  it  displayed 
great  and  aggressive  vigor  in  most  respects  till  after 
the  middle  of  the  third  century,  and  to  a  still  later 
period  maintained  a  marked  superiority  to  the  aver- 
age standing  of  the  people  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
But  the  virus  of  corruption  had  been  introduced 
into  the  Christian  brotherhood,  and  had  begun  to 
work  mischief  in  various  noticeable  ways.  Some 
of  these  I  beg  leave  to  specify,  following  as  nearly 
as  I  can  the  historic  order  of  their  appearance. 

I.  About  the  first  flagrant  departure  from  the 
simplicity  and  purity  of  the  primitive  morality  was 
the  use  and  partial  sanction  of  pious  frauds  for  the 
promotion  of  good  objects.  Eminent  pagan  philoso- 
phers, like  Plato  and  Pythagoras,  are  said  to  have 
justified  certain  kinds  of  deceit  and  falsehood  when 
worthy  ends  could  be  gained  thereby,  and  espe- 
cially in  cases  of  supposed  great  necessity.  And 
certain  philosophical  converts  to  Christianity  enter- 
taining that  view,  held  and  proclaimed  the  same 
ethical  theory  in  respect  to  spurious  miracles, 
legends,  etc.,  which  were  calculated  to  arrest  atten- 
tion, multiply  converts,  and  strengthen,  as  was 
thought,  the  Christian  cause.     Such  expedients  won 


296  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

their  way  into  favor  and  were  strenuously  defended 
by  casuists  of  considerable  eminence.  Lying  was 
of  course  condemned  in  the  abstract  and  as  a  gen- 
eral rule  of  social  intercourse  ;  but  there  were  cases 
when  it  would  be  so  strikingly  serviceable  to  the 
church  —  cases  in  which  it  would  so  silence  oppos- 
ers,  convince  doubters,  and  increase  adherents,  that 
it  was  at  least  allowable  if  not  indispensable.  Yet 
it  was  absolutely  contrary  to  pure  Christian  ethics, 
and  the  more  reprehensible  the  better  the  object 
to  be  gained  by  it.  For  a  bad  cause  is  less  dis- 
graced and  injured  by  deceit  and  falsehood  than  a 
good  one.  And  the  holier  a  cause  the  worse  it  is 
to  commit  any  wrong  in  support  of  it.  Alas,  not 
so  in  the  judgment  of  carnally  minded  zealots,  and 
artful  dissemblers  in  church  or  state  !  With  such 
"  the  end  sanctifies  the  means; "  and  speedy  suc- 
cess proves  fitness  of  policy,  no  matter  what  moral 
principle  is  violated  or  what  moral  injury  follows- 
Pure  morality  forbids  all  such  theories  and  all  con- 
duct based  upon  them.  Its  dictum  is,  "Putting 
away  lying  speak  every  man  truth  with  his  neigh- 
bor." The  worst  man  must  not  be  assailed  by 
slander  or  misrepresentation,  nor  the  worst  institu- 
tion ;  much  less  is  the  best  to  be  defended  or 
helped  by  such  means.  The  devil  is  not  to  be 
cast  out  nor  is  God  to  be  exalted  by  the  best- 
meant  falsehood  imaginable.  Nevertheless,  the 
temptation  is  too  strong  for  ordinary  virtue  to 
resist,  and  lying  for  righteousness'  sake  has  seldom 
been  out  of  fashion  in  any  exciting  movement  ; 
religious,     philanthropic,     reformatory,    or    political. 


AND    ITS    COKRUPTIONS.  297 

Yet  it  is  an  offense  and  an  abomination  to  an 
enlightened  conscience,  whether  practiced  by  a 
sworn  Jesuit,  a  sectarian  zealot,  a  fiery  iconoclast, 
or  an  unscrupulous  politician.  A  little  leaven  of 
this  sort  leaveneth  the  whole  lump.  So  it  was  in 
the  days  of  which  I  am  speaking.  The  church 
was  clandestinely  inoculated  with  the  virus  of  this 
immorality,  and  though  seemingly  a  little  matter 
and  harmless  at  first,  it  yet  increased  in  amount  and 
in  malignancy  until  the  whole  mass  was  infected 
and  demoralized  by  it.  Of  its  more  open  and  out- 
rageous excesses  and  mischiefs  I  shall  speak 
hereafter. 

2.  Clerical  pride,  ambition,  and  usurpation  crept 
stealthily  into  the  church  and  seriously  contaminated 
it.  The  first  apostles,  evangelists,  pastors  and  teach- 
ers engaged  in  the  maintenance  of  Christian  institu- 
tions and  in  the  propagation  of  Christian  truth 
exercised  only  a  moral  and  spiritual  authority  on 
a  fraternal  level  with  their  lay  brethren.  They 
were  humble,  unassuming,  self-sacrificing  instruc- 
tors and  helpers  of  the  people ;  loved,  trusted, 
heard,  followed,  as  divinely-gifted  servants  of  God, 
not  as  masters  and  "lords  over  God's  heritage." 
They  remembered  the  injunction  of  Jesus  not  to 
assume  official  authority,  not  to  exercise  arbitrary 
power,  not  to  be  called  Rabbi,  Rabbi.  They 
claimed  dominion  over  no  one's  faith,  they  dictated 
no  fixed  ecclesiastical  policy,  they  desired  no  ser- 
vile homage,  but  in  all  things  pertaining  to  the 
administration  of  church  affairs  or  to  the  common 
welfare  they  took    counsel    of    their    fellow-disciples 


298  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

and  united  harmoniously  with  them  in  the  adjudi- 
cation of  all  matters  in  which  they  had  a  common 
interest.  And  as  they  went  forth  disseminating 
the  principles  of  the  Gospel,  diffusing  its  spirit, 
and  extending  its  power  from  city  to  city  and  from 
country  to  country,  the  churches  they  established 
were  independent  of  each  other,  having  no  bonds 
of  ecclesiastical  confederation  save  those  of  frater- 
nity and  mutual  charity. 

Dr.  Mosheim  the  distinguished  church  historian 
already  quoted  says,  "  Each  Christian  assembly  was 
a  little  state  governed  by  its  own  laws,  which  were 
either  enacted  or  at  least  approved  by  the  society." 
"But,"  he  adds,  "in  process  of  time  all  the  Churches 
of  a  province  were  formed  into  one  large  ecclesias- 
tical body,  which,  like  confederate  states,  assembled 
at  certain  stated  times  to  deliberate  about  the  com- 
mon interests  of  the  whole."  "These  councils,  of 
which  we  find  not  the  smallest  trace  before  the 
middle  of  this  (the  second)  century,  changed  the 
whole  face  of  the  churches  and  gave  it  a  new  form  ; 
for  by  them  the  ancient  privileges  of  the  people 
were  considerably  diminished  and  the  power  and 
authority  of  the  bishops  greatly  augmented."  "  At 
their  first  appearance  in  these  general  councils, 
they  acknowledged  that  they  were  no  more  than 
delegates  of  their  respective  churches,  and  that 
they  acted  in  the  name  and  by  the  appointment 
of  their  people.  But  they  soon  changed  this  hum- 
ble tone,  imperceptibly  extended  the  limits  of  their 
authority,  turned  their  influence  into  dominion  and 
their    counsels    into    laws  ;    and    openly  asserted    at 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  29^ 

length  that  Christ  had  empowered  them  to  pre- 
scribe to  his  people  authoritative  rules  of  faith  and 
manners."  **  Another  effect  of  these  councils  was 
the  gradual  abolition  of  that  equality  which  reigned 
among  all  the  bishops  in  the  primitive  times. '^ 
"This  occasioned  the  creation  of  a  new  order  of 
ecclesiastics,  who  were  appointed  in  different  parts 
of  the  world  as  heads  of  the  church,  and  whose 
office  it  was  to  preserve  the  consistence  and  union 
of  that  immense  body  whose  members  were  so 
widely  dispersed  among  the  nations.  Such  were 
the  nature  and  office  of  the  patriarchs,  among  whom 
at  length,  ambition,  having  reached  its  most  inso- 
lent period,  formed  a  new  dignity,  investing  the 
bishop  of  Rome  and  his  successors  with  the  title 
and  authority  of  prince  of  the  patriarchs."  —  Eccl. 
History,   Second  Century,  Part  II,   Chap.  2. 

At  the  same  time  the  clergy  began  to  assume, 
and  soon  persuaded  the  people,  that  they  had  suc- 
ceeded in  the  Christian  church  to  the  "character, 
rights,  and  privileges  of  the  Jewish  priesthood." 
So  the  bishops  claimed  the  dignity  of  high  priests, 
the  proselyters  or  elders  that  of  priests,  and  the 
deacons  that  of  Levites.  Thus  pride,  assumption, 
and  usurpation,  having  gained  such  vantage-ground, 
went  on  from  bad  to  worse.  And  before  the  second 
century  closed,  Victor,  Bishop  of  Rome,  haughtily 
excommunicated  the  Asiatic  Christians,  clerical  and 
lay,  for  refusing  to  celebrate  the  paschal  day,  so 
called,  contrary  to  his  orders.  In  this  display  of 
arrogant  folly,  he  assumed  to  be  the  head  of  the 
entire  church,  with  absolute  power  to  issue  decrees 


300  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

and  ecclesiastical  laws  for  no  better  reason  than 
that  he  was  the  metropolitan  bishop  of  the  empire. 
But  it  amounted  to  nothing  more  than  an  exhibi- 
tion of  his  insolent  arrogance  and  conceit,  and  an 
indication  of  the  demoralizing  process  which  was 
going  on  in  the  church.  During  the  third  century 
these  mischiefs  became  gross  and  chronic  as  appears 
from  further  extracts: 

"Many  (of  the  clergy)  were  sunk  in  luxury  and 
voluptuousness,  puffed  up  with  vanity,  arrogance,  and 
ambition,  possessed  with  a  spirit  of  contention  and 
discord,  and  addicted  to  many  other  vices  that  cast 
an  undeserved  reproach  upon  the  holy  religion  of 
which  they  were  the  unworthy  professors  and  min- 
isters." **The  bishops  assumed,  in  many  places, 
a  princely  authority,  particularly  those  who  had  the 
greatest  number  of  churches  under  their  inspection, 
and  who  presided  over  the  most  opulent  assemblies. 
They  appropriated  to  their  evangelical  function  the 
splendid  ensigns  of  temporal  majesty, —  a  throne, 
surrounded  with  ministers ;  exalted  above  his  equals 
the  servant  of  the  meek  and  humble  Jesus,  and 
sumptuous  garments  dazzled  the  eyes  and  the 
minds  of  the  multitude  into  an  ignorant  veneration 
for  this  usurped  authority.  The  effects  of  a  cor- 
rupt ambition  were  spread  through  every  rank  of 
the  sacred  order.  —  lb.  TJiird  Century,  Part  II, 
Chap.   2. 

In  view  of  these  statements,  which  might  be 
greatly  extended,  it  is  sufficient  to  remark  that  such 
a  clergy,  who,  by  their  official  position  had  great 
influence  over  the  laity,  very  naturally  and   inevita- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  301 

bly  wrought  great  harm  to  the  church,  reducing  its 
average  morality  to  a  sad  state  of  degeneracy  and 
preparing  the  way  for  that  malign  union  of  the 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers  which  ere  long  took 
place,  to  the  practical  obliteration  of  those  great 
moral  and  spiritual  qualities  which  had  previously 
characterized  the  church  and  made  it  the  light  of 
the  world. 

3.  Quite  in  harmony  with  the  growing  corrup- 
tions spoken  of  and  their  degrading  effect  upon 
the  character  and  life  of  the  common  Christian 
fraternity,  another  very  naturally  was  developed,, 
scarcely  less  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  pure  and 
undefiled  religion,  in  itself  considered  and  in  its 
influence  upon  those  affected  by  it,  viz.:  an  aban- 
donment of  hitherto  cherished  peace  principles  and 
an  ambition  for  military  service  and  distinction. 
Before  the  year  150  no  professed  Christian  is  known 
to  have  been  enrolled  in  the  Roman  or  any  other 
army.  All  participation  in  the  arts  of  war  was 
universally  denounced  by  the  church  down  to  that 
date  and  by  the  majority  of  its  members  for  a 
hundred  years  afterward.  One  of  the  chief  charges 
made  by  the  pagan  polemical  writers,  as  well  as  by 
the  representatives  of  the  civil  power,  against  the 
Christians  was  that  they  would  not  become  soldiers 
or  fight,  even  in  support  of  the  government.  Some 
who  were  conscripted  refused  to  bear  arms  and 
were  put  to  death.  Many  others  were  subjected  to 
imprisonment  and  various  disabilities  on  account  of 
their  uncompromising  scruples  against  taking  the  life 
of  their  fellow-men  or  otherwise  doing  them   harm. 


S02  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

Bat  after  pious  frauds  and  priestly  arrogance 
gained  a  foot-hold  in  the  church  it  was  perfectly 
natural  and  easy  for  the  military  spirit  —  a  love  of 
warlike  display  and  martial  ambition  —  to  follow  in 
their  wake.  They  all  belong  to  the  same  demoral- 
izing category  of  worldly  and  unchristian  habits 
and  practices,  born  of  a  frame  of  mind  utterly 
antagonistic  to  the  mind  of  Christ.  To  be  sure, 
the  defection  in  respect  to  all  these  things  was  at 
first  very  slight,  as  the  influence  producing  it  was 
also  very  subtle  and  unsuspected,  but,  once  started, 
it,  in  each  case,  grew  with  ever-increasing  rapidity 
and  virulence.  This  was  no  less  so  with  the  evil 
of  militarism  than  with  that  of  lying  to  promote 
the  cause  of  truth,  or  of  priestly  domination  and 
dazzling  ecclesiastical  equipage  in  order  to  gain 
accessions  to  the  church  and  enhance  the  power 
and  glory  of  Christ's  kingdom.  By  slow  and  sure 
degrees  that  evil,  notwithstanding  here  and  there  a 
faithful  testimony  against  it  and  a  heroic  effort  to 
resist  it,  became  strongly  intrenched  in  the  masses 
of  both  clergy  and  laity,  and  the  primitive  peace- 
loving,  war-opposing  character  of  the  church  was, 
to  all  practical  intents  and  purposes,  utterly  de- 
stroyed. And  when,  at  the  end  of  the  first  quarter 
of  the  fourth  century,  the  contest  arose  between 
the  professed  Christian  Constantine  and  his  pagan 
rivals  for  the  imperial  sceptre,  not  only  the  prayers 
but  the  swords  of  nearly  the  entire  church,  in  its 
then  demoralized  condition,  were  enthusiastically 
thrown  into  his  end  of  the  scale,  and  this  probably 
turned  it  decisively  and   triumphantly  in  his    favor. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  303 

thus  bringing  the  greatest  empire  of  antiquity  nom- 
inally under  the  standard  of  the  cross.     That  event- 
ful   consummation,     achieved    by    force    and    arms, 
seemed,  in  the  estimation  of  the  Christian  populace, 
to   render  war    conclusively  justifiable  when    waged 
for    the    purpose    of    extending    the    boundaries    of 
Christ's    kingdom    and    of    lifting    his    church    to  a 
position    of     commanding     importance     among    the 
nations    of    the    earth.     From    that    day,  which  wit- 
nessed the  complete    submergence  of  the  primitive 
morality  of  the  Gospel  beneath  the  waves  of  worldly 
expediency  and  ambition  and  its  sycophantic  subjec- 
tion to  political  domination,  only  a  lean   minority  of 
avowed  believers  in  Christ  have  stood   faithfully  by 
his  teaching  and  his   example    in    the  matter  under 
notice.     The    great    bulk    of    both   clergy  and   laity 
through  the  intervening  generations  and   ages  have 
clung  tenaciously  to  all  the  secular,  social,  political, 
and    other   advantages    and    emoluments  derived  or 
supposed  to  be  derived  from  the  sceptre,  purse,  and 
sword    of    the   existing    civil    government,   whatever 
its  name,  character,  or  form  of  administration  might 
be.     And  among  the  stoutest  and  most  indomitable 
champions  of    the  mighty  war  system  of  the  world 
and    its    vast  complex    enginery  of    bloodshed    and 
death      in     modern     times,     have     been     ministers 
and    laymen    of    different    branches    of    the    church. 
However    much    they    may    extol    and    glorify    the 
great    Prince    of    Peace    in    their    religious  services 
and    convocations,    they  have  little    regard   for    him 
as    such     in     many     of    the     most     important     con- 
cerns of  life,  and   in   times  of  great  excitement  and 


304  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

peril,  in  the  momentous  crises  which  from  time  to 
time  come  to  men  and  to  nations,  they  deem  his 
spirit  of  perfect  love  inadequate  and  pitiably  weak, 
trample  his  most  sacred  precepts  and  principles  in 
the  dust  as  unworthy  of  practical  consideration,  and 
postpone  an  application  of  his  teachings  touching- 
human  brotherhood  and  the  treatment  of  enemies 
to  human  conduct  in  its  larger  activities  to  some 
better  coming  day  of  the  world's  history. 

I  have  mentioned  three  of  the  most  prominent 
and  influential  particulars  in  which  the  church  had 
become  sadly  degenerate  and  corrupt  at  the  time 
of  the  ascendency  of  Constantine  the  Great  to  the 
throne  of  the  Caesars,  making  possible  its  union 
with  the  civil  government  under  his  imperial  sway. 
There  were  many  minor  ones  which  might  be 
brought  to  view  and  descanted  upon,  if  the  demands 
of  the  subject  in  hand  required  it.  It  is  plainly 
evident  that  those  adverted  to  could  not  have 
existed  to  the  extent  indicated  and  received  the 
general  approval  and  sanction  of  ministry  and  peo- 
ple, without  giving  birth  to  and  being  accompanied 
by  a  multitude  of  kindred,  though  perhaps  less 
pernicious  and  offensive,  immoralities.  Many  of 
these  will  be  brought  to  notice  in  subsequent  dis- 
cussions of  this  series  of  discourses.  I  therefore 
proceed  to  inquire  how  we  can  account  for  these 
moral  backslidings  and  degeneracies. 

I.  We  can  say  to  begin  with  that  they  were 
natural  and  inevitable  under  the  circumstances. 
Human  nature  in  an  undeveloped,  unregencrate 
state  is  lamentably  imperfect   and   weak  —  prone  to 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  305 

wrong-doing  and  easily  swerved  from  the  path  of 
virtue  and  honor;  easily  tempted  to  be  false  to  its 
own  best  impulses,  aspirations,  and  convictions. 
And  then  the  general  tone  of  society  at  the  time 
when  these  things  occurred  was  morally  low  and 
so  in  no  way  capable  of  fostering  or  stimulating 
the  higher  and  nobler  qualities  of  human  character. 
Men  were  ignorant,  superstitious,  selfish,  brutal  in 
many  respects  and  to  a  wide  extent.  If  Christian- 
ity was  to  be  spread  abroad  in  the  world,  if  it  was 
to  go  forth  out  of  Judea  and  Palestine,  it  must  be 
first  preached  to  men  as  they  were  —  men  whose 
hearts  were  uncongenial  to  the  truths  of  the  heav- 
enly kingdom,  living  in  communities  indifferent  or 
hostile  to  its  animating  spirit  and  sacred  lessons  — 
and  under  the  care  of  the  eternal  providence  take 
its  chances.  Its  primitive  purity  and  excellence 
were  not  only  in  striking  contrast  to  the  then  pre- 
vailing moral  tone  —  to  the  opinions,  feelings,  pur- 
poses, habits  and  practices  of  men,  but  were  a 
constant  rebuke  to  them,  and  so  little  calculated 
to  gain  popular  approval  and  acceptance.  And  yet 
its  early  successes  were  alike  astonishing  and  salu- 
tary. The  common  people  heard  Jesus  gladly. 
The  day  of  Pentecost  witnessed  a  marvelous  trans- 
formation and  multiplication  of  believers  under  the 
preaching  of  Peter.  Paul  went  out  through  Asia 
Minor  and  Greece,  even  to  Rome,  proclaiming  the 
Gospel,  founding  churches,  and  extending  far  and 
wide  the  name  and  power  of  the  Nazarene.  The 
divine  contagion  spread  from  village  to  village,  from 
city    to    city,  from    province    to    province,    until    it 


306  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

reached  the  very  centers  of  Grecian  refinement  and 
Roman  power,  proving  its  heavenly  origin  by  the 
uplifting,  purifying,  humanizing,  spiritualizing  influ- 
ence and  effect  it  produced  upon  the  tempers, 
thoughts,  manners,  and  lives  of  those  who  gave  it 
hospitable  welcome.  Its  progress  during  the  first 
centuries  of  our  era  was  one  of  the  marvels  of 
human  history,  to  which  even  skeptical  writers  of 
modern  times  make  ample  acknowledgment. 

And  yet  its  pure  wine  of  grace  and  truth  had  to  be 
poured  into  earthen  vessels,  none  too  clean  at  best, 
and  thence  distributed  to  others  also  containing 
more  or  less  contaminating  and  neutralizing  odors 
or  dregs,  and  so  on  indefinitely.  And  when,  with 
the  advance  of  time  and  increase  of  numbers,  the 
glamour  of  popular  favor  and  the  promise  of  politi- 
cal and  civil  power  dimmed  the  moral  vision  of 
believers  and  beguiled  their  hearts,  what  but  a  fall- 
ing away  from  the  original  standard  of  virtue  and 
righteousness  —  what  but  degeneracy  and  corrup- 
tion could  have  been  expected  ?  Even  at  this  late 
day  we  find  how  difificult  it  is  to  put  new  truths, 
principles,  and  purposes,  into  minds  nominally  will- 
ing to  receive  them  without  having  them  more  or 
less  modified,  dilated,  neutralized,  by  the  chronic 
condition  of  those  minds  and  by  the  perverse  influ- 
ence of  social  and  political  surroundings.  And  how 
much  more  difificult  it  is  to  have  those  truths,  prin- 
ciples, and  purposes,  expressed  in  the  habits  and 
practices  of  individual  life  and  in  the  customs  and 
institutions  of  society.  Pre-existing  constitutional 
tendencies,  education,   and    the    prevailing    currents 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  307 

of  the  world  at  large,  are  too  powerful  to  be  wholly 
overcome  in  the  very  best  of  men  and  women  — 
much  more  so  in  the  great  mass  of  people. 

2.  But  in  reviewing  the  history  of  the  church 
during  the  second  and  third  centuries  and  noting 
the  deterioration  which  was  going  on  within  its 
membership,  it  is  due  to  the  facts  in  the  case  to 
say  that,  sad  as  it  was,  it  did  not  sink  to  the  level 
of  the  old  heathenism  from  which  Christian  con- 
verts had  chiefly  come,  or  of  that  still  prevailing 
in  the  world  around  them.  Christianity  at  its 
lowest  ebb  was  an  improvement  upon  the  religions 
and  philosophies  of  the  communities  and  countries 
in  which  it  gained  a  foothold  and  became  a  perma- 
nent institution.  The  morality  represented  by  such 
religions  and  philosophies,  with  a  few  bright  excep- 
tions, was  horribly  cruel,  licentious,  and  debasing. 
The  masses  of  the  people  under  it  were  grossly 
corrupt  and  vile,  and  were  crushed  to  the  earth 
beneath  the  power  of  an  unscrupulous  a?nd  merci- 
less despotism.  Christianity  wherever  it  gained  the 
ascendency,  lifted  them  out  of  the  mire  and  filth 
of  their  own  degradation,  and  measurably  removed 
the  burdens  beneath  which  they  had  so  long  suf- 
fered and  groaned  in  anguish  and  despair.  It 
imparted  to  them  new  hope  and  a  measure  of  new 
life.  Our  lamentation  is,  that,  having  once  lifted 
those  over  whom  it  gained  the  mastery  so  high,  it 
should  have  allowed  them  to  sink  so  far  towards 
their  old  estate  again. 

3.  Nevertheless  we  can  say  with  hopeful  satis- 
faction   that    the    degeneracy   of    the    church    never 


308  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

wholly  blotted  out  the  primitive  moral  ideal  or 
defaced  beyond  recall  the  record  of  its  sublime 
achievements.  The  traditions  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians have  been  preserved  through  all  changes,  and 
their  fidelity  and  unfaltering  zeal  in  proclaiming 
and  exemplifying  the  principles  and  spirit  of  the 
Gospel  of  their  acknowledged  Master  and  Lord^ 
imparted  to  their  names  and  memory  a  light  and 
a  glory  which  still  illuminate  and  gladden  the 
world.  That  Gospel,  though  perverted,  obscured, 
and  in  many  respects  practically  nullified,  has  sur- 
vived all  the  apostasies  of  its  professed  friends,  the 
assaults  of  open  enemies,  and  the  manifold  catas- 
trophes that  have  befallen  nations  and  races,  remain- 
ing the  same  "glad  tidings  of  great  joy  to  all  people" 
as  of  old,  and  "the  power  of  God  unto  salvation." 
There,  upon  its  divinely  inspired  pages,  stands  Jesus 
with  his  evangelists  and  apostles,  whose  pure  testi- 
monies and  examples  are  the  living  and  eternal 
rebuke  of  all  the  disgraceful  and  lamentable  impie- 
ties and  immoralities  which  have  characterized  a 
backslidden  church  as  well  as  those  of  the  unre- 
generate  world.  So  that  whenever  a  class  of 
believers  shall  arise,  intelligently,  honestly,  and 
uncompromisingly  resolved  to  stand  on  the  origi- 
nal foundation  of  Gospel  truth,  to  slough  off  all 
foreign  and  corrupt  accretions,  and  build  according 
to  the  primitive  ideal,  their  work  will  be  exceedingly 
simple,  well-defined,  and  comprehensible.  Such 
believers  shall  sometime  arise  and  such  work  will 
sometime  be  done,  and  be  crowned  with  ultimate 
and  triumphant  success. 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  309 

Some  people  —  philosophers,  reformers,  advanced 
thinkers,  as  they  claim  to  be  —  imagine  that  Christ 
and  his  ideals  are  to  be  outgrown,  superseded,  and 
forgotten,  in  the  onward  march  of  human  progress. 
But  that  can  never  be  unless  mankind  are  to  attain 
a  degree  of  moral  excellence  and  spiritual  growth 
beyond  and  above  perfect  love  of  God  and  man, 
perfect  righteousness  of  heart  and  life,  perfect  con- 
formity to  divine  and  everlasting  principles  of 
goodness  and  truth,  which  is  alike  impossible  and 
unthinkable.  Whatever  new  opinions,  beliefs,  theo- 
ries, philosophies,  discoveries,  of  a  moral  nature  are 
to  come,  as  come  no  doubt  they  will,  men  must 
still  put  on  the  morality  of  Christ  —  be  animated 
by  his  spirit,  be  possessed  of  his  transcendent  and 
ever-blessed  life.  This  to  me  is  as  certain  and 
unmistakable  as  it  is  that  the  sun  illuminates  the 
material  globe,  and  is  destined  to  illuminate  it  to 
the  end  of  time. 


DISCOURSE    XXII. 

INCBEASING    COBBUPTIONS    OF    PBIMITIVE 
CHBISTIAN  3I0BALITY. 

*' Whosoever  doeth  not  righteousness  is  not  of  God,  neither 
he  that  loveth  not  his  brother."  —  i  /okn  iii.  lo. 

"It  is  happened  unto  them  according  to  the  true  proverb. 
The  dog  is  turned  to  his  own  vomit  again ;  and,  The  sow  that 
was  washed  to  her  wallowing  in  the  mire."  —  2  Peter  ii.  22. 

It  is  my  purpose  in  the  present  discourse  to  trace 
the  growing  corruptions  of  primitive  Christian  moral- 
ity from  A.  D.  325  to  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  — 
about  275  years.  In  doing  this  I  shall  only  attempt 
to  call  attention  to  a  few  important  particulars. 

I.  Constantine,  the  acknowledged  sovereign  of 
the  Roman  empire,  having  adopted  the  Christian 
religion  as  his  own  and  that  of  his  dominion,  pro- 
claimed himself  the  head  of  the  church  as  well  as 
of  the  state.  While  allowing  ordinary  theological 
and  ecclesiastical  matters  to  remain  where  they  had 
been,  in  the  hands  of  the  provincial  bishops,  higher 
and  lower,  and  their  synodical  councils,  he  reserved 
all  extraordinary  ones  to  himself  for  oversight  and 
adjudication.  He  made  himself  the  final  arbiter  in 
important  cases  of  controversy,  assumed  supremacy 
over  all  church  officials,  and  claimed  the  right  to 
preside    at    all    general    ecclesiastical    councils.     In 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY.  311 

his  exercise  of  usurped  authority  he  promoted  and 
degraded  such  of  his  subordinates  as  he  pleased. 
He  formally  decreed  the  abolition  of  the  hitherto 
established  religion  of  the  country,  at  least  of  all 
idolatrous  worship,  destroyed  a  multitude  of  heathen 
temples,  and  sequestrated  the  wealth  they  enshrined 
for  the  pecuniary  benefit  of  the  newly  adopted  faith. 
He  caused  new  houses  of  worship  to  be  erected, 
the  splendors  of  which  far  outshone  those  of  the 
ones  which  had  been  demolished,  and  filled  them  with 
images,  pictures,  and  every  conceivable  embellish- 
ment that  could  attract,  astonish,  and  delight  the 
multitude.  Moreover,  he  induced  his  opulent  court- 
iers and  parasites  throughout  the  provinces  to  erect 
similar  structures,  over  which  he  exercised  the  per- 
petual right  of  patronage  ;  that  is,  the  right  to  name 
the  bishop  or  priest  who  should  officiate  at  any 
time  in  one  of  those  structures,  without  any  power 
of  appeal.  Thus  the  long  humble,  conscientious, 
faithful,  and  often  persecuted  disciples  of  the  lowly 
Jesus  were  virtually  bought  up,  temporally  and 
spiritually,  by  their  imperial  proselyte  and  supposed 
benefactor,  or  compelled  by  force  of  circumstances 
to  submit  to  his  dictation,  while  the  enginery  of 
persecution  was  turned  against  the  heathen  priest- 
hood and  devotees. 

But  what  sort  of  a  Christian  was  this  Constan- 
tine,  who  had  made  himself  the  virtual  head  of  the 
church  and  the  master  of  its  fortunes  and  desti- 
nies ?  He  was  a  military  chieftain,  who,  early  in 
his  public  career,  had  served  the  empire  during  the 
reign  of  Diocletian,  and  who,  later,   had  aspired  to. 


312  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

and  at  length,  by  his  prowess  and  skill,  had  gained 
the  throne  of  the  Caesars.  In  one  of  the  campaigns 
of  the  long  struggle  which  finally  secured  to  him 
the  object  of  his  ambition  he  professed  to  have 
seen  in  the  sky  above  him  a  flaming  cross  bearing 
the  inscription  in  Greek,  "With  this  you  will  con- 
quer." So  impressed  was  he  with  this  vision  that 
he  at  once  avowed  himself  to  be  a  Christian, 
ordered  the  crucifix  to  be  placed  on  the  shields 
and  banners  of  his  army,  and  went  on  his  conquer- 
ing way ;  victory  succeeding  victory  until  he  had 
vanquished  all  his  foes  and  obtained  possession  of 
the  imperial  crown,  with  an  army  at  his  command 
of  300,000  men  and  a  naval  squadron  of  29  vessels. 
Thereafter  he  was  known  as  Constantine  the  Great, 
and  great  he  was  no  doubt  as  a  warrior,  a  politician, 
a  statesman,  and  a  monarch,  He  was  a  man  of 
quick  perception,  vast  ideas,  marvelous  foresight, 
great  mental  power,  inflexibility  of  purpose,  and 
an  iron  will.  But  what  he  was  as  a  Christian,  or 
indeed  as  to  personal  character,  is  clearly  indicated, 
not  only  by  his  general  public  life  but  by  his  pri- 
vate acts  among  his  own  family  relatives.  He 
murdered  his  father-in-law,  his  brother-in-law,  his 
nephew  12  years  of  age,  his  son  Crispus,  and  his 
wife  Fausta  ;  all  under  false  pretexts,  but  really  to 
get  them  out  of  the  way  of  the  realization  of  his 
ambitious  and  tyrannical  designs.  His  whole  char- 
acter was  in  keeping  with  these  bloody  deeds, 
becoming  more  and  more  depraved  and  outrageous 
with  his  advancing  age.  Though  avowing  himself 
a  Christian   in   midlife  it   was   not    until    twenty-five 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  313 

years  later,  when  near  his  end,  that  he  was  bap- 
tized ;  probably  from  the  absurd  notion,  then  deemed 
orthodox,  that  this  rite  cleansed  the  subject  from 
all  sin  and  rendered  him  meet  for  heaven.  His 
body  was  buried  amid  the  grandest  conceivable  dis- 
plays of  funeral  solemnity,  pomp,  and  splendor,  in 
the  Church  of  the  Apostles  at  Constantinople. 
This  city  he  had  make  capital  of  the  empire 
instead  of  Rome,  having  first  changed  its  name 
from  Byzantium,  as  it  had  been  previously  called, 
in  honor  of  himself.  And  the  great  mass  of  Chris- 
tian confessors  with  lamentation,  eulogy,  and  impos- 
ing pageantry,  wafted  his  soul  to  immortal  glory. 
What  he  was  as  the  head  and  what  they  were  as 
the  body  of  the  Church  may  in  view  of  these  facts 
be  more  easily  imagined  than  described.  A  holy 
and  exemplary  minority  held  fast  to  the  simplicity 
and  purity  of  the  original  Gospel,  but  the  number 
was  small  and  those  composing  it  were  compara- 
tively obscure,  undemonstrative,  and  powerless.  The 
morality  of  emperor  and  subject,  of  bishops,  priests, 
and  people,  was  as  unlike  that  of  Primitive  Chris- 
tianity as  darkness  is.  dissimilar  to  light,  or  gall  to 
honey. 

The  successors  of  Constantine  until  the  opening 
of  the  seventh  century  were  all  nominal  Christians, 
with  the  exception  of  Julian,  nephew  of  Constantine, 
who  openly  abjured  the  Christian  faith  and  re-in- 
stated paganism  as  the  religion  of  the  empire  ; 
for  which  reason  he  was  called  "the  Apostate." 
They  walked  very  closely  in  the  footsteps  of  their 
illustrious   predecessor,   magnifying   and    making   at- 


H14  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

tractive  the  outward  observances  of  the  church  by 
costly  ostentation  and  spectacular  display,  while 
personally  they  were  ambitious,  arrogant,  oppressive, 
bloodthirsty,  and  in  some  instances  foully  sensual 
and  corrupt.  The  most  notorious  of  the  score  or 
more  of  them  was  Theodosius,  also  surnamed  "the 
Great,"  who  reigned  from  A.  D.  379  to  395.  He 
was  deemed  pre-eminently  pious  and  orthodox. 
With  some  undeniable  excellences  of  character  he 
was  a  bitter,  cruel,  unrelenting  bigot,  a  sanguinary 
warrior,  and  a  ferocious  persecutor.  Soon  after 
mounting  the  throne  he  announced  his  determina- 
tion to  exterminate  the  old  worship,  root  and 
branch.  He  issued  edicts  against  all  heathen  rites 
and  ceremonies  and  instigated  his  Christian  subjects 
to  open  and  merciless  warfare  with  those  who  prac- 
ticed and  justified  them.  The  devastation  of  mag- 
nificent temples,  the  destruction  of  valuable  librariCvS 
and  depositories  of  art,  the  confiscation  of  the  prop- 
erty of  those  who  were  persecuted  to  enrich  his 
treasuries  and  those  of  the  church,  the  bloodshed 
and  death  that  ensued  ;  all  authorized  by  him  and 
done  in  the  name  of  Christ,  go  to  show  how  infa- 
mously ''great"  he  was  in  misunderstanding,  pervert- 
ing, and  falsifying  the  Gospel,  and  in  doing  violence 
to  the  plainest  and  holiest  precepts  of  the  Master 
whom  he  professed  to  believe  in  and  to  serve. 
Nor  was  his  fanatical,  arrogant,  merciless,  sanguin- 
ary temper  manifested  towards  the  heathen  alone. 
All  dissenting,  heretical  parties  in  the  church,  how- 
ever sincere,  upright,  devout.  Christlike  they  might 
be,  were  no  less  the  objects  of  his  persecuting  zeal, 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  315 

and  were  hunted  out,  maltreated,  pursued  even 
unto  death,  with  unsparing  diligence  and  malignity. 
The  followers  of  Arius,  who  rejected  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity  upon  which  the  approving  seal  of 
the  empire  had  been  set,  were  the  objects  of  his 
special  animosity.  Though  their  numbers  were 
large,  all  the  churches  of  the  East  except  in  Jeru- 
salem being  under  their  control,  he  undertook  their 
utter  extinction  as  a  branch  of  the  established 
church.  He  deposed  all  the  clergy  in  his  domin- 
ions who  would  not  sign  the  Athanasian  creed  and 
sent  them  into  exile,  imposed  severe  penalties  upon 
all  heretics,  and  allowed  no  such  persons  to  follow 
any  honorable  and  lucrative  employment.  Arians 
deprived  by  imperial  edict  of  their  long  occupied 
houses  of  worship  were  forbidden  to  build  new 
ones,  even  at  their  own  expense,  under  threats  of 
heavy  punishment.  During  this  reign  blood  was 
for  the  first  time  shed  by  authority  of  law  merely 
and  avowedly  on  account  of  theological  opinions. 
**  Priscillian,  a  Spanish  bishop,  was  twice  banished 
and  finally  put  to  death,"  and  some  of  **his  adher- 
ents, among  whom  were  noble  women,  were  tor- 
tured and  executed."  To  this  deplorable  extent 
had  primitive  Christian  morality  been  debased  and 
vitiated  in  the  high  places  of  both  church  and  state 
and  throughout  the  entire  hierarchy  of  assumed- 
to-be  saints  in  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  centuries 
of  our  era. 

2.  If  we  recur  to  the  vices  of  whose  incipient 
development  I  spoke  in  my  last  discourse,  we  find 
them    waxing    worse   and    worse  —  becoming    more 


316  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

flagrant  and  impious  during  the  period  now  under 
review.  Of  pious  frauds,  Dr.  Mosheim  says  :  "Ru- 
mors were  artfully  spread  abroad  of  prodigies  and 
miracles  to  be  seen  in  certain  places,  (a  trick  often 
practiced  by  heathen  priests ),  the  design  of  which 
was  to  draw  the  populace,  in  multitudes,  to  these 
places,  and  to  impose  upon  their  credulity."  ''Cer- 
tain tombs  were  falsely  given  out  for  the  sepulchers 
of  saints  and  confessors  ;  the  list  of  such  was  aug- 
mented with  fictitious  names,  and  even  robbers  were 
converted  ( by  sheer  pretence)  into  martyrs.  Some 
buried  the  bones  of  dead  men  in  certain  retired 
localities  and  then  affirmed  that  they  were  divinely 
admonished  by  a  dream  that  the  body  of  some  friend 
of  God  lay  there.  Many,  especially  of  the  monks, 
traveled  through  the  different  provinces;  and  not  only 
sold,  with  the  most  frontless  impudence,  their  fictitious 
relicts,  but  also  deceived  the  eyes  of  the  multitude 
with  ludicrous  combats  with  evil  spirits  or  genii.  A 
whole  volume  would  be  requisite  to  contain  an  enu- 
meration of  the  various  frauds  which  artful  knaves 
practiced,  with  success,  to  delude  the  ignorant,  when 
true  religion  was  almost  entirely  superseded  by  hor- 
rid superstition." 

Again,  **  It  was  now  a  received  maxim  that  it  was 
^an  act  of  virtue  to  deceive  and  lie,  when,  by  such 
means  the  interests  of  the  church  might  be  pro 
moted.'  "  '*  It  had  been  adopted  for  some  time  past 
and  had  produced  an  incredible  number  of  ridiculous 
fables,  fictitious  prodigies,  and  pious  frauds,  to  the 
unspeakable  detriment  of  that  glorious  cause  in 
which  they  were  employed.     And  it  must  be  frankly 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  317 

confessed  that  the  greatest  men  and  most  eminent 
saints  of  this  century  were  more  or  less  tainted  with 
the  infection  of  this  corrupt  principle,  as  will  appear 
evidently  to  such  as  look  with  an  attentive  eye  into 
their  writings  and  their  actions." — Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory, FourtJi  Cent  my,  Part  II,  Chap.  3. 

In  depicting  the  morals  of  the  clergy  our  historian 
testifies  to  a  corresponding  downward  tendency.  He 
says:  "The  vices  of  the  clergy  were  now  carried  to 
the  most  enormous  excess,  and  all  the  writers  of  this 
century  whose  probity  and  virtue  render  them  wor- 
thy of  credit,  are  unanimous  in  their  accounts  of  the 
luxury,  arrogance,  avarice  and  voluptuousness  of  the 
sacerdotal  order.  The  bishops,  and  particularly  those 
of  the  first  rank,  created  various  delegates  or  minis- 
ters, who  managed  for  them  the  affairs  of  their  dio- 
ceses ;  and  courts  were  gradually  formed  where  these 
pompous  ecclesiastics  gave  audience  and  received  the 
homage  of  a  cringing  multitude."  **  The  corruption 
of  an  order  appointed  to  promote,  by  doctrine  and 
example,  the  sacred  interests  of  piety  and  virtue  will 
appear  less  surprising  when  we  consider  that  multi- 
tudes of  people  were  in  every  country  admitted,  with- 
out examination  or  choice,  into  the  body  of  the 
clergy,  the  greatest  part  of  whom  had  no  other  view 
than  the  enjoyment  of  a  lazy  and  inglorious  repose. 
Many  of  these  ecclesiastics  were  confined  to  no  fixed 
places  or  assemblies,  and  had  no  employment  of  any 
kind,  but  sauntered  about  wherever  they  pleased,  gain- 
ing their  maintenance  by  imposing  upon  the  ignorant 
multitude,  and  sometimes  by  mean  and  dishonest 
practices."  —  lb.   Fifth   Century,  Part  II,  Chap.   2. 


318  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

So  grew  these  enon-nities  that  our  author,  writing 
of  the  condition  of  things  a  hundred  years  later, 
says;  "The  arts  of  a  rapacious  priesthood  were 
practiced  upon  the  ignorant  devotion  of  the  simple, 
and  even  the  remorse  of  the  wicked  was  made  an 
instrument  of  increasing  the  ecclesiastical  treasury ; 
for  an  opinion  was  propagated  with  industry  among 
the  people  that  a  remission  of  sin  was  to  be  pur- 
chased by  their  liberalities  to  the  churches  and 
monks,  and  that  the  prayers  of  departed  saints, 
whose  efficacy  was  victorious  at  the  throne  of  God, 
were  to  be  bought  by  offerings  presented  to  the 
temples  which  were  consecrated  to  these  celestial 
mediators."  *' So  high  was  the  veneration  paid,  at 
this  time,  to  the  clergy,  that  their  most  flagitious 
crimes  were  corrected  by  the  slightest  and  gentlest 
punishments;  an  unhappy  circumstance,  which  added 
to  their  presumption  and  rendered  them  more  daring 
and  audacious  in  iniquity."  —  lb.  Sixth  Century,  Part 
II,   Chap.  2. 

And  if  we  inquire  into  the  prevalence  of  the  war 
spirit  with  its  kindred  vices,  of  whose  generation 
and  growing  ascendancy  in  the  church  mention  was 
made  in  my  last  discourse,  we  shall  find  the  whole 
period  now  being  scanned  in  more  or  less  violent 
agitation,  crowded  with  the  formation  and  move- 
ment of  military  organizations,  campaigns,  battles, 
and  widely  extended  bloodshed  and  slaughter  of 
men;  much  of  it  all  in  the  name  of  Christianity  and 
avowedly  for  the  maintenance  and  spread  of  the 
true  faith.  Emperors,  princes,  patriarchs,  bishops, 
priests,  and   the   laity,  followed   by  the   general   rab- 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  319 

ble,  engaged  in  this  sanguinary  work  with  the  most 
unscrupulous  zeal  whenever  and  wherever  they  had 
a  cherished  object  to  gain,  whether  in  opposition 
to  the  heathen,  to  heretical  parties  and  sects,  or, 
as  was  sometimes  the  case,  in  hostile  strife  with 
each  other.  If  here  and  there  a  voice  was  raised 
against  this  serpent  brood  of  inhumanities  and  in 
re-afTfirmation  of  the  principles  of  peace  and  good 
will,  it  was  silenced  by  imperial  decree  and  threats 
of  penal  vengeance  or  drowned  by  the  general  uproar 
of  the  people.  Even  rival  patriarchs  and  metropoli- 
tan prelates  made  the  sword  the  arbiter  of  their 
respective  claims.  As  a  specimen  of  such  conten- 
tion, carried  on,  not  in  the  pretended  interest  of 
truth  and  justice  or  of  any  particular  form  of  doc- 
trine or  of  ecclesiasticism,  I  will  quote  further  from 
my  learned  author. 

**The  bishop  of  Rome  surpassed  all  his  brethren 
in  the  magnificence  and  splendor  of  the  church  over 
which  he  presided  ;  in  the  riches  of  his  revenue 
and  possessions  ;  in  the  number  and  variety  of  his 
ministers  ;  in  his  credit  with  his  people  ;  and  in  his 
splendid  and  sumptuous  manner  of  living."  ''Hence 
it  happened  that  when  a  new  pontiff  was  to  be  elected 
by  the  suffrages  of  the  presbyters  and  the  people,  the 
city  of  Rome  was  generally  agitated  with  dissen- 
sions, tumults,  and  cabals,  whose  consequences  were 
often  deplorable  and  fatal."  In  the  year  366,  "one 
faction  elected  Damasus  to  that  high  dignity  while 
the  opposite  party  chose  Ursicinus.  *  *  *  This 
double  election  gave  rise  to  a  dangerous  schism  and 
to  a  sort  of  civil  war  within  the  city  of  Rome,  which 


320  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY      , 

was  carried  on  with  the  utmost  barbarity  and 
fury,  and  produced  the  most  cruel  massacres  and 
desolation.  This  inhuman  contest  ended  in  a  vic- 
tory for  Damasus,  but  whether  his  cause  was 
more  just  than  that  of  Ursicinus  is  a  question  not 
so  easy  to  determine." — lb.  Fourth^Century,  Part  II, 
Chap.  2. 

Similar  exhibitions  of  this  corrupt  morality  on  a 
larger  or  smaller  scale  characterized  and  disgraced 
Christendom  thenceforth.  The  whole  church  fell 
into  a  state  of  chronic  warfare,  theological,  ecclesi- 
astical, proselytive,  and  civil,  waged  not  infrequently 
with  carnal  weapons  resulting  in  bloodshed  and 
slaughter.  Athanasianism  and  Arianism,  in  modern 
terms,  Trinitarianism  and  Unitarianism,  besides  vari- 
ous other  doxies  opposed  to  each  other,  were  in 
bitter  conflict  during  the  three  centuries  under 
review;  sometimes  with  arguments  and  anathemas, 
sometimes  with  judicial  proceedings  and  penalties, 
sometimes  with  force  and  arms.  General  Council 
after  General  Council  was  convened  under  civil  and 
military  protection,  which,  however,  did  not  always 
protect,  to  settle  points  of  doctrine  or  ecclesiastical 
preferences,  in  honor,  professedly,  of  the  great 
Redeemer  and  to  promote  the  glory  of  God  !  So  the 
most  hateful  tempers,  the  most  bitter  animosities,  the 
most  inhuman  atrocities,  the  most  sanguinary  battles, 
demonstrated  the  rapidly  increasing  anti-Christianity 
of  nominal  Christendom,  And  whoever  protested  or 
refused  to  join  the  infamous  masquerade  was  counted 
a  traitor  to  the  cause  of  Christ  and  sometimes  sub- 
jected to   martyrdom. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  321 

3.  Meantime  the  spirit  of  religious  persecution 
had  become  more  and  more  deeply  intrenched  in 
the  popular  mind  and  like  a  poisonous  bohon  upas 
tree  was  diffusing  its  baleful  virus  far  and  wide  in 
all  directions.  The  great  mass  of  professing  Chris- 
tians was  infected  by  it,  allowing  it  to  gain  a  domi- 
nating influence  over  their  hearts  and  lives.  Pagans, 
Jews,  heretics  of  whatever  name,  and  rival  sects, 
were  made  the  victims  of  various  forms  of  open 
hostility  —  proscription,  malediction,  excommunica- 
tion, banishment,  torture,  death, — as  temptation 
and  opportunity  occurred.  On  the  other  hand, 
those  thus  maltreated,  when  the  tables  were  turned 
and  the  power  in  any  locality  came  into  their  pos- 
session, revenged  themselves  in  the  same  inhuman 
fashion  and  without  compunction.  While  this  was 
going  on  in  the  great  centers  of  Christian  influence 
and  power  and  vicinity,  Christianity  itself,  such  as 
it  was,  continued  to  make  converts  and  gain  con- 
quests in  foreign  countries  and  among  barbarous 
peoples,  sometimes  by  justifiable  means,  but  quite 
as  often  by  reprehensible  ones, —  even  by  fraud  and 
violence  and  the  grossest  forms  of  oppression  and 
outrage.  In  this  way  hordes  of  ignorant,  degraded, 
half  civilized  people  in  central  Europe,  northern 
Africa,  and  western  Asia,  were  brought  to  an 
acknowledgment  of  the  Christian  faith  and  made  to 
swell  the  membership  of  the  Christian  church. 
What  sort  of  disciples  of  the  gentle,  loving,  holy 
Jesus  these  new-made  saints  were  can  be  learned 
from  our  faithful  chronicler  of  those  days,  Dr. 
Mosheim. 


322  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

"  All  that  was  required  of  these  darkened  nations 
amounted  to  an  oral  profession  of  their  faith  in 
Christ,  to  their  abstaining  from  sacrifices  to  the 
gods,  and  their  committing  to  memory  certain 
forms  of  doctrine ;  *  *  *  so  that  they  retained 
their  primitive  ferocity  and  savage  manners,  and 
continued  to  distinguish  themselves  by  horrid  acts 
of  cruelty  and  rapine,  and  the  practice  of  all  kinds 
of  wickedness."  "The  converted  nations  retained 
a  great  part  of  their  former  impiety,  superstition, 
and  licentiousness";  *  *  *  ''attached  to  Christ  by 
a  mere  outward  and  nominal  profession,  they  in 
effect  renounced  the  purity  of  his  doctrine  and  the 
authority  of  his  gospel  by  their  flagitious  lives  and 
the  superstitious  and  idolatrous  rites  and  institu- 
tions which  they  continued  to  observe." — lb.  Sixth 
Century,  Part  /,   Chap.    i. 

When  we  consider  the  circumstances  under  which 
the  church  maintained  its  existence  and  wrought  its 
work  in  those  far  off  days  as  set  forth  in  the  quota- 
tions thus  far  made,  and  the  manifold  causes  of 
deterioration  and  apostasy  that  were  in  operation, 
we  can  not  be  surprised  at  the  general  departure 
which  took  place  from  the  pure  morality  of  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  at  the  almost  universal 
prevalence  of  del)auchery,  vice,  and  crime  among 
those  who  bore  the  Christian  name,  making  it  diffi- 
cult sometimes  to  distinguish  them  from  the  pagan 
multitudes  in  the  midst  of  whom  their  lot  was  cast. 
Of  the  deplorable  condition  of  things  in  this  regard 
at  the  close  of  the  fourth  century,  our  author  says  ; 
"When    we    cast    our    eyes    towards    the    lives    and 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  323 

morals  of  Christians  at  this  time  we  find,  as  for- 
merly, a  mixture  of  good  and  evil  ;  some  eminent  for 
their  piety,  others  infamous  for  their  crimes.  The 
number,  however,  of  immoral  and  unworthy  Chris- 
tians began  so  to  increase  that  the  examples  of 
real  piety  and  virtue  became  extremely  rare.  When 
the  major  part  of  the  bishops  exhibited  to  their 
flocks  the  contagious  examples  of  arrogance,  luxury, 
effeminacy,  animosity,  and  strife,  with  other  vices 
too  numerous  to  mention  ;  when  the  inferior  rulers 
and  doctors  of  the  church  fell  into  a  slothful  and 
opprobrious  negligence  of  the  duties  of  their  respect- 
ive stations,  and  employed  in  vain  wranglings  and 
idle  disputes  that  zeal  and  attention  that  were  due 
to  the  culture  of  piety  and  the  instruction  of  their 
people  ;  and  when,  to  complete  the  enormity  of  this 
horrid  detail,  multitudes  were  drawn  into  the  pro- 
fession of  Christianity,  not  by  the  power  of  convic- 
tion and  argument  but  by  the  prospect  of  gain  and 
the  fear  of  punishment ;  then  it  was  indeed  no 
wonder  that  the  church  was  contaminated  with 
shoals  of  profligate  Christians,  and  that  the  virtu- 
ous few  were  in  a  manner  oppressed  and  over- 
whelmed with  the  superior  numbers  of  the  wicked 
and  licentious." — lb.  Fourth  Century,  Part  II, 
Chap.   3. 

And  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  condition  of  the 
church  in  the  sixth  century,  he  says;  ''The  public 
teachers  and  instructors  of  the  people  degenerated 
sadly  from  the  apostolic  character.  They  seemed 
to  aim  at  nothing  else  than  to  sink  the  multitude 
into  the  most  opprobrious  ignorance  and  superstition. 


324  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

to  efface  in  their  minds  all  sense  of  the  beauty  and 
excellence  of  genuine  piety,  and  to  substitute,  in 
the  place  of  religious  principles,  a  blind  veneration 
for  the  clergy,  and  a  stupid  zeal  for  a  senseless 
round  of  ridiculous  rites  and  ceremonies. — lb. 
Sixth  Ce7i turfy  Part  II.   Chap.   3. 

It  hardly  seems  possible  that  a  morality  so  pure 
and  exalted  as  that  of  Christ  and  the  apostles  could 
become  so  wretchedly  corrupted  in  almost  every 
respect  within  the  brief  period  of  a  few  hundred 
years.  But  just  as  seemingly  impossible  things 
have  marked  the  whole  history  of  mankind.  And 
again,  it  may  seem  incredible  that  those  degenerate 
Christians,  with  the  teachings  of  Christ  in  their 
hands,  at  least  in  the  hands  of  their  elders  and 
bishops,  should  have  claimed  to  be  the  true  and  only 
true  church  of  Christ,  and  seek  to  suppress  or 
exterminate  any  who,  in  honest  loyalty  to  the 
Master,  presumed  to  expose  and  rebuke  their  apos- 
tasy. But  so  it  has  been  all  through  the  ages  to 
this  very  day.  Even  in  our  own  time,  if  one 
plainly  and  uncompromisingly  re-affirms  the  pure 
primitive  Christian  faith  and  practice,  and  exposes 
the  corruptions  that  still  do  much  to  invalidate 
them  in  their  application  to  individual  and  social 
life,  calling  men  back  to  the  original  Gospel,  as  I 
feel  it  my  duty  to  God  and  man  to  do,  nine-tenths 
of  the  nominal  Christian  church.  Catholic,  Greek, 
and  Protestant,  to  whom  his  animadversions  and 
strictures  emphatically  apply,  have  no  more  doubt  of 
their  own  genuine  Christianity,  or  of  his  utter  heter- 
odoxy and  fatal  error,  than  those  of  fifteen  hundred 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  325 

years  ago  had,  in  respect  to  themselves  and  the 
few  faithful  prophets  who  stood  for  pure  Christian- 
ity and  testified  against  the  prevailing  degeneracy 
and  fanaticism.  Such  is  the  traditional,  educational 
blindness  and  self-suf^ciency  of  multitudes  of  people, 
good,  bad,  and  indifferent,  today.  Can  they  ever  be 
overcome  ?  Gradually,  by  indomitable,  persistent 
effort,  under  the  inspiration  and  guidance  of  the 
immanent  divine  Spirit.  The  primitive  morality  of 
Christ,  founded  on  eternal  principles  of  truth  and 
righteousness  must  sometime  prevail  and  fill  the 
world  with  supernal  light,  beauty,  glory.  The  true 
test  of  all  creeds,  professions,  institutions,  of  all 
conduct  and  life,  the  same  yesterday  today  and  for- 
ever, is  the  old  one  of  Christ ;  "By  their  fruits  shall 
ye  know  them." 


DISCOURSE    XXIII. 

DEEPENING     CORRUPTIONS     OF    PRIMITIVE 
CHRISTIAN  3I0RALITY. 

"  Wo  unto  them !  for  they  have  gone  in  the  way  of  Cain, 
and  ran  greedily  after  the  error  of  Balaam  for  reward."  — 
/i^de,   Mth  verse. 

The  tide  of  demoralization  was  sweeping  onward 
with  resistless  force  at  the  opening  of  the  seventh 
century,  and  as  we  descend  into  the  deepening 
shades  of  the  "Dark  Ages"  we  can  expect  nothing 
but  augmenting  depravity  and  corruption.  Nor 
wi!l  our  expectation  be  disappointed.  Morality 
had  already  become  almost  completely  divorced' 
from  piety,  and  neither  of  them  had  more  than  a 
pretended  likeness  to  the  original  Christian  type. 
The  former  was  metamorphosed  into  a  selfish,  bar- 
baric, unscrupulous  expediency ;  the  former  into  a 
splendid  heathenish  ritualism.  Pious  frauds  had 
set  the  whole  church  agog  after  bogus  miracles 
and  relics  of  saints  ;  image-worship  had  been  sol- 
emnly sanctioned  by  the  highest  ecclesiastical  author, 
ities  ;  notorious  sinners  procured  clerical  absolution 
and  favor  by  rich  gifts  ;  patriarchs  and  high  prel- 
ates opposed  and  supplanted  each  other  by  craft 
and  violence  ;  luxury,  licentiousness,  and  arrogance 
characterized     the     upper     classes    in     church     and 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY.  327 

State — gross  ignorance  and  superstition  the  masses 
of  the  people  ;  the  rising  monastic  orders  exhibited 
numberless  extravagances  of  asceticism  and  laxity, 
of  mendicancy  and  avarice,  of  artlessness  and  crafti- 
ness, of  fanaticism  and  composure,  of  zeal  and  stu- 
pidity, of  virtue  and  vice,  while  whatever  pure 
Christianity  survived  was  proscribed  or  driven  into 
obscurity. 

While  the  church  had  been  rotting  and  becom- 
ing putrid  at  the  center,  its  circumference  had  been 
expanding  by  fraud  and  violence,  until  it  embraced 
a  vast  multitude  of  barbarians,  mercenaries,  and 
hypocrites,  who  were  actuated  much  more  by  the 
spirit  of  Beelzebub  than  that  of  Christ.  The 
stronger  of  these  preyed  on  the  weaker  with  mer- 
ciless voracity,  and  "  might  made  right "  through- 
out the  once  colossal  Roman  dominion.  What  was 
called  the  Western  Empire,  with  Rome  for  its 
capital,  had  been  overrun  and  subjugated  by  the 
Goths  who  were  soon  to  be  conquered  by  the 
Franks  and  Germans  —  all  barbarians  but  Chris- 
tian ( ^ )  barbarians.  The  Eastern  Empire,  with  its 
capital  at  Constantinople,  was  in  a  state  of  constant 
ferment,  but  outlasted  in  a  decaying  condition  the 
period  I  am  now  canvassing.  The  great  Arabian 
prophet,  Mahomet,  had  carried  fire  and  sword 
through  Western  Asia  and  laid  the  foundation  of 
a  new  religion,  intrinsically  aggressive  and  warlike, 
which  rapidly  brought  a  third  part  of  Christendom 
under  its  arbitrary  sway  and  filled  the  other  two- 
thirds  with  terror  and  dismay.  Thus  internal  and 
external   conflicts  at  arms,  with  their  manifold   inde- 


328  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

scribable  calamities,  became  the  actual,  almost  normal 
condition  of  the  entire  Christian  world.  The  kind 
of  morality,  individual  and  social,  likely  to  flourish 
under  such  conditions,  within  and  without  the 
church,  can  be  easily  imagined.  It  may  be  clearly 
portrayed  by  the  presentation  of  a  few  well-authen- 
ticated facts. 

I.  We  will  consider  at  the  outset  the  character 
and  career  of  the  reigning  sovereigns  of  those  times 
and  their  satellites.  Of  professed  Christian  emper- 
ors and  kings  there  were  some  thirty  between  the 
sixth  and  tenth  centuries.  Among  the  earliest  of 
these  was  Phocas,  who,  by  a  successful  conspiracy 
and  much  bloodshed,  rose  from  the  rank  of  centu- 
rion to  that  of  chief  monarch  of  the  East.  Having 
gained  possession  of  Constantinople  by  corrupting 
the  army  and  bribing  one  of  the  two  violent  fac- 
tions in  the  city,  he  massacred  the  fugitive  emperor 
and  his  entire  family  —  five  sons  being  slaughtered 
before  their  father's  face  prior  to  his  own  death. 
The  six  bodies  were  thrown  into  the  sea,  the  heads 
belonging  to  them  being  exposed  in  the  streets  of 
the  capital  to  the  insults  or  pity  of  the  populace 
till  putrefaction  necessitated  their  burial.  But  this 
was  not  the  end  of  indignity  and  outrage  inflicted 
upon  the  overthrown  imperial  household.  The  eld- 
est son,  Theodosius,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  Persia, 
was  hunted  down  and  murdered,  and  not  long  after, 
the  empress,  who  attempted  to  check  the  usurper 
in  his  mad  career,  was  seized  by  his  infuriated 
minions,  tortured,  like  the  vilest  of  malefactors,  in 
order    to    extort    a    confession    of    her   designs  and 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  329 

accomplices,  and  then  with  her  three  daughters 
beheaded.  Those  accused  of  loyalty  to  the  former 
regime  were  condemned  to  die  as  traitors  without 
a  trial  after  having  first  suffered  the  most  cruel 
tortures  —  tortures  too  revolting  to  be  described. 
Yet  this  monster  of  iniquity  and  cruelty  was  with 
impious  solemnities  consecrated  as  the  Lord's 
anointed  by  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  who 
had  been  assured  of  his  orthodoxy  ;  and  Pope  Greg- 
ory the  Great,  afterwards  canonized  as  one  of  the 
saints,  pronounced  upon  the  wretch  one  of  his  most 
flattering  benedictions.  Gibbon,  the  distinguished 
author  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  thus  characterizes  this  murderous  ruler  : 

"The  pencil  of  an  impartial  historian  has  deline- 
ated the  portrait  of  a  monster;  his  diminutive  and 
depraved  person,  the  closeness  of  his  shaggy  eye- 
brows, his  red  hair,  his  beardless  chin,  and  his 
cheek  disfigured  and  discolored  by  a  formidable 
scar.  Ignorant  of  letters,  of  laws,  and  even  of  arms, 
he  indulged  in  the  supreme  rank  a  more  ample 
privilege  of  lust  and  drunkenness,  and  his  brutal 
pleasures  were  either  injurious  to  his  subjects  or 
disgraceful  to  himself.  His  savage  temper  was 
inflamed  by  passion,  hardened  by  fear,  and  exasper- 
ated by  resistance  or  reproach." — Decline  and  Fall, 
Vol.  IV,  p.  454.  At  length  he  was  supplanted  by 
another  conspirator  and  punished  by  the  same 
bloody  violence  through  which  he  had  risen  to  the 
throne.  Of  some  forty  successors,  down  to  the 
year  1000,  I  find  only  one  that  shrunk  from  the 
shedding  of  human  blood  and  other  crimes  peculiar 


330  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

to  monarchs.  He  was  conspired  against  by  the 
leaders  of  the  army  and  quietly  abdicated  —  declar- 
ing that  not  a  drop  of  Christian  blood  should  be 
shed  in  his  behalf.  Thenceforth  for  32  years  his 
home  was  a  monastery  far  distant  from  the  royal 
palace.  A  few  others  were  tolerable  rulers  for  their 
age,  and  the  rest  abominable  wretches. 

In  western  Europe  the  emperors  and  kings  were 
perhaps  more  respectable  on  the  whole,  though  some 
of  them  were  moral  monsters,  guilty  of  manifold 
forms  of  iniquity.  Yet  they  all  claimed  the  Chris- 
tian name  and  were  reputedly  zealous  devotees  of 
the  church,  observing  its  formalities  and  keeping 
its  feasts  with  scrupulous  care.  Charlemagne,  the 
most  famous  of  them  all,  was  sainted  for  what  were 
deemed  his  personal  merits  and  his  services  to  the 
cause  of  Christ.  The  son  of  Pepin,  king  of  the 
French,  he  rose  from  the  princedom  to  which  he 
was  born  to  the  dignity  and  power  of  an  impe- 
rial Caesar.  As  he  was  among  the  best  of  the 
professed  Christian  sovereigns  we  will  give  a  brief 
historical  sketch  of  his  character  and  career,  from 
which  we  can  judge  how  near  the  others  came  to 
the  standard  of  excellence  and  worth  set  up  in  the 
New  Testament. 

"  On  the  festival  of  Christmas  the  last  year  of  the 
eighth  century,  Charlemagne  appeared  in  the  church 
of  St.  Peter  at  Rome,  and,  to  gratify  the  vanity  of 
the  city,  he  exchanged  the  simple  dress  of  his 
country  for  the  more  showy  habit  of  a  patrician. 
After  the  celebration  of  the  holy  mysteries,  Leo 
(the  pope)    suddenly    placed    a    precious    crown    on 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  331 

his  head,  and  the  dome  resounded  with  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  people,  crying,  '  Long  life  and  victory 
to  Charles,  the  most  pious  Augustus,  crowned  by 
God  the  great  and  pacific  emperor  of  the  Romans.' 
The  head  and  body  of  Charlemagne  were  conse- 
crated by  the  royal  unction  ;  after  the  example  of 
the  Caesars,  he  was  saluted  and  adored  by  the 
pontiff;  his  coronation  oath  represents  a  promise 
to  maintain  the  faith  and  privileges  of  the  church  ; 
and  the  first  fruits  were  paid  in  rich  offerings  to 
the  shrine  of  the  apostle.  *  *  *  Without  injustice 
to  his  fame,  I  may  discern  some  blemishes  in  the 
sanctity  and  greatness  of  the  restorer  of  the  West- 
ern Empire.  Of  his  moral  virtues,  chastity  is  not 
the  most  conspicuous  ;  but  the  public  happiness 
could  not  be  materially  injured  by  his  nine  wives 
or  concubines,  the  various  indulgence  of  meaner  or 
more  transient  amours,  the  mutitude  of  his  bastards 
whom  he  bestowed  on  the  church.  *  *  *  I  shall 
scarcely  be  permitted  to  accuse  the  ambition  of  a 
conqueror ;  but  on  the  day  of  equal  retribution,  the 
sons  of  his  brother,  Carloman,  the  Merovingian- 
princes  of  Aquitaine  and  the  four  thousand  five 
hundred  Saxons  who  were  beheaded  on  the  same 
spot,  would  have  something  to  allege  against  the 
justice  and  humanity  of  Charlemagne." — Decline  and 
Fall,   Vol.  V,pp.  43-5. 

Such  being  the  character  of  Charlemagne  the 
saint,  we  can  judge  tolerably  well  what  sort  of 
Christian  monarchs  flourished  in  western  Christen- 
dom during  the  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  centuries. 
It   may  be   safely   concluded,    that,  in  general,  they 


332  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

practically  trampled  under  foot  every  precept  of 
Christ  as  they  utterly  ignored  his  example  and  com- 
mitted many  abominable  vices  in  his  name. 

2.  If  we  now  inspect  the  lives  of  the  professed 
ministers  of  religion  during  the  same  period,  from 
pontiff  and  patriarch  to  the  humblest  priest  and 
teacher,  the  picture  is  still  darker  —  at  least,  if 
viewed  in  the  light  of  their  greater  assumed  sanc- 
tity. For  they  not  only  attached  themselves  closely 
to  the  civil  rulers  and  shared  the  spoils  of  their 
official  tyranny,  but  sanctified  governmental  wicked- 
ness and  aped  in  the  church  the  excesses  and  vices 
of  the  state.  Dr.  Mosheim  says  ;  "  That  corruption 
of  manners  which  dishonored  the  clergy  in  the 
former  century  increased  rather  than  diminished 
in  this,  and  discovered  itself  under  the  most  odious 
characters,  both  in  the  Eastern  and  Western  prov- 
inces. In  the  East  there  arose  the  most  violent 
dissensions  and  quarrels  among  the  bishops  and 
doctors  of  the  church,  who,  forgetting  the  duties 
of  their  stations  and  the  cause  of  Christ  in  which 
they  were  engaged,  threw  the  state  into  combus- 
tion by  their  outrageous  clamors  and  scandalous 
divisions,  and  even  went  so  tar  as  to  stain  their 
hands  with  the  blood  of  their  brethren  who  differed 
from  them  in  opinion.  In  the  western  world,  Chris- 
tianity was  not  the  less  disgraced  by  the  lives  of 
those  who  pretended  to  be  the  luminaries  of  the 
church.  *  *  *  The  clergy  abandoned  themselves 
to  their  passions  without  moderation  or  restraint. 
*  *  *  Those  who  by  their  holy  profession  were 
appointed    to    proclaim    to   the  world    the  vanity  of 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  333 

human  grandeur  and  to  inspire  the  minds  of  men 
by  their  instruction  and  example  with  a  noble  con- 
tempt of  sublunary  things,  became  themselves  scan- 
dalous spectacles  of  worldly  pomp,  ambition,  and 
splendor." — EccL  History,  Eighth  Century,  Paj^t  11, 
Chap.   2. 

3.  With  such  a  clergy,  what  must  be  the  moral- 
ity of  the  laity  and  lower  classes  generally  ?  Let 
the  same  historian  answer;  —  "It  is,  indeed,  amaz- 
ing, that,  notwithstanding  the  shocking  nature  of 
such  vices,  especially  in  a  set  of  men  whose  pro- 
fession required  them  to  display  to  the  world  the 
attractive  luster  of  virtuous  example,  and  notwith- 
standing the  perpetual  troubles  and  complaints 
which  these  vices  occasioned,  the  clergy  were  still 
thought  worthy  of  the  highest  veneration,  and  were 
honored,  as  a  sort  of  deities,  by  the  submissive 
multitude.  This  veneration  for  the  bishops  and 
priests  and  the  influence  and  authority'  it  gave  them 
over  the  people,  were,  indeed,  carried  much  higher 
in  the  west  than  in  the  eastern  provinces ;  and 
the  reasons  of  this  difference  will  apear  manifest 
to  such  as  consider  the  customs  and  manners  that 
prevailed  among  the  barbarous  nations,  which  were 
at  this  time  masters  of  Europe,  before  their  con- 
version to  Christianity.  All  these  nations  during 
their  continuance  under  the  darkness  of  paganism,, 
were  absolutely  enslaved  to  their  priests,  without 
whose  counsel  and  authority  they  transacted  nothing 
of  the  least  importance  either  in  civil  or  military 
affairs.  On  their  conversion  to  Christianity  they 
therefore  thought  proper   to   transfer  to   the  minis- 


334  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

ters  of  their  new  religion  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  their  former  priests.  And  the  Christian  bishops 
in  their  turn,  were  not  only  ready  to  accept  the 
offers,  but  used  all  their  diligence  and  dexterity  to 
secure  and  assert  to  themselves  and  their  success- 
ors the  dominion  and  authority  which  the  ministers 
of  paganism  had  usurped  over  an  ignorant  and  brut- 
ish people."  —  lb. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  multiply  these  historic  testi- 
monies, as  they  continue  to  be  of  the  same  import 
to  the  end  of  the  ninth  century.  The  corruption  of 
primitive  Christian  morality,  as  well  as  piety,  became 
utterly  abhorrent  till  at  length  it  reached  the 
nethermost  depths  of  depravity,  the  thick  darkness 
of  an  ignorant,  superstitious,  intolerable,  earthly 
inferno.  If  it  could  be  boasted  on  the  nominally 
triumphant  side  that  Pagandom  had  been  Christian- 
ized, it  might  be  claimed  on  the  other  that  Christen- 
dom had  been  Paganized. 

And  now  friends,  what  shall  we  say  of  these 
things  and  how  shall  we  profit  by  the  glimpses  we 
have  caught  of  the  appalling  decline  down  which 
the  Christian  Church  gradually  backslid  from  the 
lofty  and  pure  heights  of  personal  righteousness  on 
which  Jesus  and  his  first  disciples  stood  and  radi- 
ated light  upon  the  world  }  Shall  we  keep  ourselves 
in  willing  ignorance  of  the  facts  in  the  case  .^  or 
shall  we  study  diligently  the  annals  of  the  religious 
past  with  a  view  of  profiting  by  them  }  Note  the 
condition  of  things  in  Christendom  today.  On  the 
one  side  stand  the  lineal  successors  and  represent- 
atives of  these  old  paganized  Christians,  in  church 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  335 

and  state,  boasting  of  the  sacred  antiquity  and  even 
infallibility  of  an  ecclesiastical  organization  that 
has  for  ages  been  wallowing  in  this  mire  of  corrup- 
tion, from  which  it  is  yet  by  no  means  delivered, 
and  solemnly  conjuring  us  to  take  refuge  in  its 
bosom  as  the  only  hope  of  salvation.  On  the  other 
side,  and  at  the  utmost  extreme,  are  the  assumed 
apostles  of  progress,  contemning  or  belittling  every 
form  or  type  of  Christianity,  even  the  primitive 
Christianity  of  the  Gospels,  claiming  that  it  is  of 
the  same  nature  as  all  others  —  the  puny  seedling 
of  baptized  paganism — and  that  all  must  stand  or 
fall  together ;  that  they  are  not  worthy  of  the  pres- 
ent age  and  should  be  abandoned.  Another  class 
there  is,  who  make  earnest  protestations  against 
the  **  Scarlet  Beast,"  as  they  term  the  medieval 
church  and  its  lineal  successor,  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic hierarchy  of  today,  but  who  still  hug  many  of 
her  theological,  pietistic,  and  moral  corruptions  as 
the  original  Gospel,  and  doom  to  perdition  those 
who  conscientiously  and  justly  reject  and  disown 
them.  Let  us  open  our  eyes  to  these  things  and 
judge  of  them  both  conscientiously  and  intelligently. 
Let  us  not  be  overawed  by  priestly  assumption  on 
the  one  hand,  nor  be  hallucinated  and  led  astray 
by  the  sophistries  of  an  artful  skepticism  or  the 
ignis  fatid  of  a  fruitless  progression  ism,  on  the 
other.  Nor  yet  let  us  professedly  cleave  to  the 
pure  Christianity  of  the  New  Testament  and  at  the 
same  time  blend  with  it  doctrines,  customs,  and 
practices  to  which  Jesus  himself  gave  no  counte- 
nance,—  doctrines,    customs,   and    practices    born  of 


336  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

ignorance,  superstition,  and  barbarism.  Rather  let 
us  expend  reasonable  effort  in  getting  all  possible 
light  upon  the  subject  under  discussion  and  then 
judge  concerning  it  in  both  a  good  conscience  and 
a  good   understanding. 

When  we  read  over  or  hear  rehearsed  the  simple, 
grand  precepts  of  the  great  Teacher,  let  us  ponder 
them  reverently,  thoughtfully,  and  under  a  deep 
sense  of  responsibility  to  God.  Let  us  search  for 
the  eternal  divine  principles  on  which  they  are 
based,  the  living,  holy  spirit  with  which  they  are 
animated,  and  the  use,  purpose,  or  end,  to  which  they 
are  to  be  applied  in  all  human  relations  and  transac- 
tions. Without  this,  they  are  of  little  value  —  empty 
platitudes  or  ineffective  generalities.  Professional 
formalists  may,  parrot-like,  repeat  them,  zealous 
sentimentalists  may  praise  them,  and  even  unscru- 
pulous pretenders  may  affect  to  reverence  them'; 
albeit  to  all  such  they  are  little  more  than  "as 
sounding  brass  or  a  tinkling  cymbal."  The  preacher 
may  cry  out  with  impassioned  voice  that  "Except 
a  man  be  born  again"  and  "become  as  a  little 
child,  he  can  in  no  case  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  But  often  to  what  purpose  .-*  This  doc- 
trine was  taught  and  nominally  believed  all  through 
the  "  Dark  Ages  "  by  pontiff,  monarch,  prelate  and 
noble  ;  by  clergy  and  laity.  But  what  meaning  had 
it  to  any  of  them  ?  Professing  to  be  born  again 
and  to  have  entered  upon  a  new  life  in  Christ,  they 
were  the  same  slaves  of  pride,  lust,  and  blood  as 
before.  Professing  to  have  become  as  little  chil- 
dren,   innocent,    gentle,   teachable,    they   were    vain, 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  337 

haughty,  ambitious,  tyrannical.  Professing  to  be  the 
followers  of  Jesus  in  all  things,  they  persistently 
and  systematically  repudiated  his  spirit,  ignored  his 
example,  and  violated  his  most  sacred  and  authori- 
tative injunctions  and  commands. 

Moreover,  such  professions  and  such  practices  — 
such    teachings    and    such    lives   did  not  begin  and 
end  in  a  day,  or  in  a  century,  or  with    the   "Dark 
Ages."     Do    they  not    exist    to  a  deplorable  extent 
in  our  own  time  ?     Listen  to  the  ordained    instruc- 
tor   and    guide    of    the    people    in    many  a    popular 
church,  and  to  the  people  themselves.     The  minister 
repeats  the  golden  rule,  and  the  people  say,  amen. 
But    does    that    rule    govern    them    in    their  entire 
conduct    towards    their   fellow-creatures  ?     They    all 
avow    their    belief    in    the    second    commandment. 
But  do  they  really  love  their  neighbor  as  they  love 
themselves  ?  regard  his  welfare  as  they  do  their  own  ? 
seek    his    happiness    as    they    seek    to    be    happy  ? 
They  recite  together  the  precept,   "  Love  your  ene- 
mies, bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good   to    them 
that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  who    despitefully 
use  you  and  persecute  you."     But   do  they  live  by 
it,  as  individuals,  as  members  of  society,  as  citizens 
of  the  town,  state,  and  nation  ?     Or  do  they  cherish 
towards    these    several    classes  the  spirit  of    ill-will, 
resentment,    indignation,    anger,    hatred  ?     Do    they 
not    often    seek    to    injure,   wrong,    harm    them,    in 
body,    mind,    reputation,    or    estate ;    to   have   them 
made    to    suffer   penal  retribution  —  fines,  imprison- 
ment,   death    perhaps.      Do    they    not    in    extreme 
cases    all    unite    in    unloosing    the   dogs  of  war  and 


338  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

in  sending  wholesale  destruction  among  those  who 
have  in  some  way  or  other  offended  against  them 
or  against  the  general  welfare  and  happiness  ? 
Eloquent  and  laudatory  discourses  do  men  preach 
upon  the  passages  quoted,  and  upon  all  the  heav- 
enly precepts  of  humility,  meekness,  brotherly  kind- 
ness, forgiveness,  but  how  much  real  practical 
meaning  do  they  find  in  them  ?  Some  of  them 
about  as  much  and  about  the  same  kind  as  did 
the  popes,  emperors,  prelates,  kings,  nobles,  and 
populace,  in  the  days  of  the  imperial  saint  Charle- 
magne ;  some  of  them  a  great  deal  more,  to  be 
sure,  but  alas  !  how  few  of  them  enough  to  purge 
them  of  "all  bitterness,  and  wrath,  and  anger,  and 
evil  speaking,  with  all  malice  ?  "  How  few  enough 
to  disarm  them  of  all  injurious  and  death-dealing 
force,  of  all  penal  and  military  compulsion  and 
violence,  and  cause  them  to  "  beat  their  swords 
into  ploughshares  and  their  spears  into  pruning- 
hooks"  and  **  to  learn  war  no  more?"  The  great 
mass  still  cling  to  the  scepter  and  weapons  of  car- 
nal strife  and  death  as  indispensable  to  human  prog- 
ress ;  aye,  to  Christian  civilization.  They  rejoice 
to  have  escaped  from  medieval  barbarism  but  still 
cling  to  its  methods  and  practices  ;  they  congratu- 
late themselves  that  they  were  not  born  and  doomed 
to  live  in  the  **  Dark  Ages,"  but  yet  are  quite  will- 
ing to  linger  in  the  gloomy,  deadly  shades  of  such 
ages !  Behold,  then,  the  theoretical  text  and  the 
practical  commentary  ! 

Much  the  same  is  true  in  regard  to  worldly  ambi- 
tion, desire  for  rank  and   station,   lust  for  authority 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  339 

and  power.  The  Master's  teaching  upon  this  mat- 
ter is  very  explicit  and  plain.  When  the  mother 
of  Zebedee's  children  came  with  her  two  sons  to 
him,  asking  a  high  place  for  them  in  his  kingdom  — 
a  wish  in  which  they  no  doubt  heartily  concurred 
—  he  gave  them  a  lesson  of  rebuke  and  instruction 
which  ought  to  be  remembered  and  heeded  by  all 
similar  disciples  to  the  end  of  time,  "Ye  know  not 
what  ye  ask,"  he  said.  "The  princes  of  the  Gen- 
tiles exercise  dominion  over  them,  and  they  that 
are  great  exercise  authority  upon  them.  But  it 
shall  not  be  so  among  you.  But  whosoever  will 
be  great  among  you,  let  him  be  your  minister;  and 
whosoever  will  be  chief  among  you,  let  him  be 
your  servant.  Even  as  the  son  of  man  came  not 
to  be  ministered  unto  but  to  minister  and  to  give 
his  life  a  ransom  for  many."  —  Matt.  xx.  22,  25-28. 
And  yet  behold  the  scramble  for  positions  of  honor 
and  emolument,  for  office  and  places  of  authority 
and  power,  in  all  grades  of  political  and  civil  life, 
and  often  even  in  the  church ;  professed  disciples 
of  the  humble  Jesus,  "  who  made  himself  of  no 
reputation  and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  ser- 
vant," joining  in  the  tumult,  and  vieing  with  each 
other  for  some  vacant  place  of  honor  or  power,  and 
a  chance  to  feed  at  the  public  crib.  How  much 
is  the  spirit  thus  manifested  like  the  unhallowed 
and  vaulting  ambition  of  those  old  princes  and 
potentates,  prelates  and  priests,  of  whom  I  have 
spoken,  although  operating,  it  is  true,  on  a  some- 
what less  cruel,  bloody,  and  inhuman  plane  than 
their  predecessors ! 


340  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

And  then  there  are  those  other  blessed  precepts 
of  primitive  Christian  morality  scattered  through 
the  New  Testament,  against  the  inordinate  love  of 
money,  covetousness,  and  all  forms  of  mammonism 
which  Christ  declares  to  be  hostile  to  the  true  ser- 
vice of  God.  These  are  frequently  extolled  and 
urged  as  the  rightful  rules  of  life  with  fulsome 
rhetoric  and  glowing  enthusiasm,  yet  with  little 
practical  application  and  effect.  The  burning 
thirst  for  gold  is  not  allayed,  the  eager  strife  for 
wealth,  in  which  the  multitudes  take  part,  goes  on, 
great  riches  are  heaped  up  by  the  more  shrewd, 
artful,  unscrupulous  few,  while  the  many  fail  to  a 
great  extent  in  the  fierce  and  unbrotherly  compe- 
tition—  some,  indeed,  to  share  and  enjoy  a  reason- 
able competency,  but  a  large  proportion  to  struggle 
on  year  after  year  in  hopeless,  unrelieved  poverty. 
And  then  comes  the  conventional  exhortation  to 
the  more  successful  to  be  generous  with  their 
wealth,  to  give  liberally  to  the  church  and  its 
institutions,  in  order  that  splendid  edifices  for  wor- 
ship may  be  built,  an  ornate  ritual  be  kept  up,  and 
all  the  accompaniments  of  religion  be  refined  and 
elegant,  so  as  to  attract  the  multitude  and  gain 
converts  to  Christ  ;  as  if  such  use  of  worldly  means, 
without  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  they  were 
obtained,  would  satisfy  the  demands  of  true  moral- 
ity and  win  the  favor  of  heaven  ?  Does  not  this, 
too,  seem  much  like  the  ways  of  the  olden  time, 
when  large  contributions  to  the  treasury  of  the 
Lord  were  thought  to  atone  for  many  crimes,  save 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  341 

the  soul  from  purgatorial  fires,  and  satisfy  a  right- 
eous God  ? 

Who  will  seriously  ponder  these  things  I  again 
ask  and  be  wise  in  regard  to  them  ?  Who  will 
find  in  them  stimuli  to  a  more  faithful  perform- 
ance of  duty ;  to  a  closer  imitation  of  Christ ;  to 
a  more  perfect  obedience  to  his  commands  and 
injunctions?  And  who  pursuant  thereto  will  take 
part  in  the  work  of  a  radical  reform  in  the  respects 
mentioned  ;  in  the  work  of  bringing  back  the  church 
to  its  primitive  basis  ;  so  that  its  Personal  Right- 
eousness shall  practically  accord  with  that  of  its 
great  Head  and  Exemplar  ? 


DISCOURSE  XXIV. 

THE  3I0BALITY  OF  CHBISTENDOM 

DURING    THE   TENTH,   ELEVENTH,    TV/ELFTH,   AND 

THIBTEENTH  CENTUBIES. 

"  Evil  men  and  seducers  shall  wax  worse  and  worse,  deceiv- 
ing and  being  deceived."  —  2   Ti?n.  iii.  13. 

"  Many  will  say  unto  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  have  we 
not  prophesied  in  thy  name  ?  and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out 
devils?  and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works?  And 
then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you ;  depart  from 
me  ye  that  work  iniquity."  —  Matt.  vii.  22,  23. 

The  prophetic  declarations  embodied  in  these  two 
texts  of  New  Testament  Scripture  were  strikingly 
fulfilled  in  the  experience  of  men  and  nations  bear- 
the  name  of  Christ  during  the  period  passed  in 
review  in  the  last  three  discourses,  extending  from 
the  middle  of  the  second  to  the  end  of  the  ninth 
century.  "Evil  men  and  seducers"  through  all 
that  darkening  era  did  "  wax  worse  and  worse, 
deceiving  and  being  deceived,"  and  multitudes  of 
ecclesiastics  in  the  nominal  Christian  Church,  of 
high  and  low  degree,  together  with  the  great  mass 
of  professed  believers  in  the  anointed  One  of  Naza- 
reth, were  going  their  prescribed  round  of  cere- 
monial service  and  observing  with  punctilious  care 
the  manifold  rites  and  ordinances  of   formal    piety, 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY.  348 

claiming  to  do  "many  wonderful  works"  as  repre- 
sentatives of  Christ  and  guardians  of  his  cause, 
while  steeped  in  iniquity  and  practicing  the  most 
disgusting,  abhorrent,  and  deplorable  immoralities. 
It  would  seem  as  if  moral  corruption  and  depravity 
could  hardly  reach  a  lower  depth  than  that  which 
widely  prevailed  at  the  opening  of  the  tenth  cen- 
tury. Scarcely  a  single  distinguishing  virtue  of  Prim- 
itive Christianity  remained  sacred  in  general  practice, 
and  the  most  exalted  and  sublime  of  those  virtues 
were  ruthlessly  set  at  nought,  trampled  under  foot, 
or  reversed  by  the  church  itself,  save  in  the  case 
of  a  comparatively  few  obscure  members.  And 
this  condition  of  things  continued  through  the 
tenth,  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  thirteenth  centuries  — 
the  period  covered  by  the  present  discourse — becom- 
ing, if  possible,  more  intense  and  malign,  more 
appalling  and  calamitous,  as  time  advanced,  with 
little  to  alleviate  the  universal  degradation  and 
distress;  with  few  indications  of  coming  relief,  and 
with  scanty  ground  for  hope,  save  only  in  the  infin- 
ite mercy  of  God,  that  a  better  day  was  ever  to 
dawn  upon  the  world  of  mankind.  Anti-Christian- 
ity had  passed  now  far  beyond  its  flowering  season 
and  was  bringing  forth  its  hateful  fruits  in  abound- 
ing exuberance  and  profusion.  This  will  appear 
most  clearly  as  we  go  on  with  a  hasty  review  of 
the  period  indicated,  which  will  consist  not  so 
much  in  the  details  of  individual,  social,  civil,  eccle- 
siastical, moral,  and  religious  life  as  in  historical 
generalizations  and  summaries,  with  appropriate  com- 
ments thereon. 


344  PKIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

I.  And  to  begin  with  we  will  look  once  more 
at  the  clergy  in  their  personal  and  official  charac- 
ter, trying  to  follow  them  in  their  devious  wander- 
ings from  the  path  of  duty  inculcated  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  and  in  the  apostolic  messages  to  the 
early  churches.  It  was  during  the .  four  hundred 
years  under  notice  that  their  supreme  head  —  the 
Papacy,  so-called  —  made  its  most  audacious  and 
tyrannical  assumptions,  reached  the  climax  of  its 
usurped  authority  over  church  and  state  in  Europe, 
and  exhibited  its  most  execrable  depravities.  The 
popes  one  after  another  asserted  absolute  and  uncon- 
ditioned majesty  and  dominion,  temporal  and  spirit- 
ual, throughout  Christendom,  made  and  unmade 
kings  and  potentates  at  their  pleasure,  compelled 
those  thus  raised  to  power,  even  mighty  monarchs, 
for  trivial  offences  against  them  to  crawl  like  rep- 
tiles in  the  dust  before  them,  and  perform  the  most 
servile  and  abject  acts  of  penance  at  their  footstool. 
At  their  bidding  vast  armies  went  forth  to  attack 
and  destroy  their  Mohammedan  and  other  enemies. 
When  neither  persuasion  nor  pious  frauds  would 
avail,  they  converted  barbarians  to  the  Christian 
faith  by  fire  and  sword.  They  sent  their  suppli- 
ant, blood-thirsty  emissaries  through  all  Europe  to 
search  out,  hunt  down,  harass,  subdue,  and  extermi- 
nate heretics  of  whatsoever  sort  that  rose  in  protest 
against  their  theological  decrees  or  their  immorali- 
ties.. They  established  the  infamously  horrible  and 
sanguinary  inquisition,  with  its  complex  enginery 
of  torture  and  death.  They  opposed,  fought  against, 
supplanted,  murdered  each  other  in  their  mad  strife 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  345 

for  the  pontifical  scepter.  And  not  a  few  of  them 
led  lives  of  the  most  abandoned  and  shameless 
profligacy.  Of  those  reigning  in  the  tenth  century, 
Dr.  Mosheim  says : 

**The  history  of  the  Roman  pontiffs  who  lived  in 
this  century  is  a  history  of  so  many  monsters  and 
not  of  men,  and  exhibits  a  horrible  series  of  the 
most  flagitious,  tremendous  and  complicated  crimes, 
as  all  writers,  even  those  of  the  Romish  communion, 
unanimously  confess."  "To  those  who  consider  the 
primitive  dignity  and  the  solemn  nature  of  the  min- 
isterial character,  the  corruptions  of  the  clergy  must 
appear  deplorable  beyond  all  expression."  ''Both  in 
the  eastern  and  western  provinces  the  clergy  were, 
for  the  most  part,  composed  of  a  most  worthless 
set  of  men,  shamefully  illiterate  and  stupid,  ignor- 
ant more  especially  in  religious  matters,  equally 
enslaved  to  sensuality  and  superstition,  and  capable 
of  the  most  abominable  and  flagitious  deeds.  This 
dismal  degeneracy  of  the  sacred  order  was,  accord- 
ing to  the  most  credible  accounts,  principally  owing 
to  the  pretended  chiefs  and  rulers  of  the  universal 
church,  who  indulged  in  the  commission  of  the 
most  odious  crimes,  and  abandoned  themselves  to 
the  lawless  impulse  of  the  most  licentious  passions 
without  reluctance  or  remorse  ;  who  confounded,  in 
short,  all  difference  between  just  and  unjust  to 
satisfy  their  impious  ambition,  and  whose  spiritual 
empire  was  such  a  diversified  scene  of  iniquity  and 
violence  as  never  was  exhibited  under  any  of  those 
temporal  tyrants  who  have  been  the  scourges  of  man- 
kind."—  Eccl.  Hist.,  Tenth  Century,  Part  II,  Chap.  2. 


346  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

When  the  celebrated  historian  comes  to  treat  of 
the  eleventh  century,  substantially  the  same  state- 
ments are  repeated  ;  as  they  are  in  his  representa- 
tions of  the  two  succeeding  ones.  To  quote  pas- 
sages would  be  only  to  multiply  testimonies  similar 
in  nature  and  character  and  to  darken  the  picture 
into  the  gloom  of  moral  midnight ;  a  gloom  relieved 
only  by  infrequent  gleams  of  hope-reviving  light. 
For  which  reason  I  pass  to  other  phases  of  the 
subject  in  hand. 

And  now  while  the  condition  and  character  of 
the  whole  order  of  church  officials,  from  the  pope 
down  to  the  humblest  priest,  was  such  as  has  been 
set  forth,  how  was  it  with  the  laity  of  correspond- 
ing grades,  from  the  monarch  on  his  throne  to  the 
meanest  vassal  of  his  authority  and  will ;  from  the 
princely  noble  rolling  in  wealth  and  luxury  to  the 
beggar  of  the  street  }  What,  in  fact,  must  have 
been  their  moral  and  spiritual  state  ?  Much  like 
that  of  their  ecclesiastical  superiors,  ''  Like  priest, 
like  people."  Where  the  acknowledged  shepherd 
leads,  the  flock,  as  a  general  rule,  follows.  Worse 
than  their  reputed  guides  they  could  hardly  have 
been,  and  less  guilty  and  blameworthy,  because  of 
their  oppressed  condition  and  lack  of  opportunity 
for  better  things.  With  few  exceptions  they  were 
lamentably  ignorant,  superstitious,  degraded.  The 
lower  classes  —  the  multitude  —  were  mere  slaves 
to  the  few,  to  those  who  held  the  reins  of  power 
and  exercised  arbitrary  authority  in  both  church 
and  state.  The  chief  ground  of  hope  and  source 
of  relief  to  such  was  that  their  temporal  and   spir- 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  347 

itual  oppressors  frequently  quarrelled  bitterly  among 
themselves  and  contended  with  each  other  for  the 
spoils  of  empire,  and  alternately  favored  their  serfs 
and  vassals  through  mutual  spite  and  rivalry.  Thus 
it  was  that  the  wronged  and  outraged  obtained 
from  time  to  time  a  portion  of  their  inherent 
rights,  or,  at  least,  a  measure  of  protection,  as  their 
superiors  found  it  for  their  own  advantage  to  grant 
the  same.  When,  however,  no  such  inducement 
existed,  when  there  was  no  strife  between  opposing 
forces  of  tyranny,  and  all  combined  for  purposes  of 
usurpation  and  conquest  —  the  temporal  and  spirit- 
ual  working  harmoniously  for  mutual  aggrandize- 
ment and  glory  —  then  was  there  no  check  to  the 
arrogance  of  those  in  authority,  and  the  people  at 
large  were  ground  as  grain  between  the  upper  and 
nether  millstorfes  of  injustice  and  cruelty.  And 
while  the  viceregants  of  Christ,  bearing  the  insignia 
of  the  church  and  claiming  to  represent  the  majesty 
of  heaven,  were  guilty  of  the  immoralities  and 
crimes  just  ascribed  to  them,  it  may  safely  be  con- 
cluded that  their  subordinates  in  ecclesiastic  affairs, 
from  sovereigns  and  princes  to  the  lowliest  subject 
or  slave,  would  feel  justified  in  following  their  exam- 
ple. So  it  was,  as  the  facts  of  history  abundantly 
demonstrate.  The  water  in  a  spring  or  conduit 
never  rises  higher  than  the  fountain  whence  it 
flows. 

2.  It  is  to  be  noted  as  a  result  of  the  survey 
which  we  are  prosecuting  that  striking  illustrations 
of  the  prevailing  depravity  of  the  period  in  ques- 
tion, as  well  as  of   the  ignorance,  superstition,  and 


348  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

fanaticism  that  existed,  are  found  in  the  practical 
working  of  the  monastic  system  which  had  then 
risen  to  considerable  importance  in  Christendom. 
This  system,  which  is  founded  upon  the  idea  of 
retiring  from  the  ordinary  affairs  of  the  world  and 
devoting  one's  self  in  seclusion  to  the  contempla- 
tion, search  after,  and  attainment  of  the  things 
pertaining  to  the  religious  life,  had  been  long  exist- 
ent when  Christianity  made  its  appearance  among 
men,  and  it  gained  a  place  in  the  Christian  church 
at  a  very  early  date.  Though  practiced  chiefly  by 
individuals  for  a  while,  it  yet  began  to  attract 
attention  and  gain  a  foothold  as  a  mode  of  life,  a 
social  polity,  or  an  institution,  sometime  in  the 
third  or  fourth  century,  spreading  thenceforth  with 
great  rapidity  as  time  went  on.  Persons  of  great 
pietistic  devotion  and  fervor  deemed  it  their  duty 
to  withdraw  wholly  from  worldly  pursuits  —  from 
seeking  after  wealth,  distinction,  rank,  pleasure, 
even  to  the  renunciation  of  the  marriage  relation 
in  some  cases,  and,  under  solemn  vows,  to  take  up 
their  abode  in  solitary  places,  in  mountain  retreats 
or  caves  of  the  earth,  and  later  in  convents  and 
monasteries,  that  they  might  there,  disencumbered 
of  all  temporal  cares  and  free  from  the  temptations 
and  snares  of  ordinary  life,  give  themselves  wholly 
to  religious  exercises,  self-discipline,  and  communion 
with  God.  And  if,  as  they  felt  might  be  the  case, 
they  should  be  called  of  divine  providence  to  go 
out  thence  on  missions  of  grace  and  salvation  to 
the  world  at  large,  to  do  so  under  their  own  dis- 
tinctive   name   and    in   a   garb    formally  adopted    as 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  349 

the  appropriate  raiment  of  their  order.  Men  thus 
devoted  and  consecrated  were  termed  monks  ;  and 
women,   nuns. 

In  process  of  time  and  with  the  development  of 
the  system,  differing  modes  of  thought  sprung  up 
among  its  adherents,  resulting  in  different  forms 
of  administration  and  in  different  schools  of  the 
same  essential  monastic  idea,  more  or  less  inde- 
pendent of  each  other  and  yet  constituting  as  a 
whole  a  common  brotherhood.  In  process  of  time,, 
too,  the  monastics,  as  they  were  termed,  became 
numerous  and  influential.  They  were  recognized 
as  a  power  in  general  society  —  in  church  and 
state,  and  their  aid  was  sought  by  rival  parties  ir> 
the  management  of  both  temporal  and  spiritual 
affairs.  On  the  other  hand  they  became  at  length 
conscious  of  their  own  importance  and  undertook, 
to  dictate  to  the  reigning  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
authorities  and  to  control  the  concerns  and  the 
fortunes  of  the  people  at  large.  By  their  avowals 
of  poverty,  humility,  and  simplicity,  and  of  lofty  spirit- 
uality, and  their  outward  display  of  these  qualities, 
they  gained  the  favor  of  the  great  mass  of  the 
population  ;  while  their  steadfast  allegiance  to  the 
church  made  them  no  less  the  favorites  of  the  Papal 
court  and  its  subordinates.  Thus  it  came  to  pass 
that  they  not  only  formed  a  sort  of  connecting 
link  or  medium  between  the  subject  and  ruling 
classes  but  were  enabled  to  exercise,  in  a  quiet 
unpretentious  way,  without  any  of  the  customary 
ensigns  or  displays  of  authority  or  strength,  without 
crowns  or  coronets,  battle-axes  or  spears,  cohorts  or 


350  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

armies,  a  mighty  influence  in  all  human  concerns, 
social,  civil,  ecclesiastical,  both  at  Rome  and  through- 
out Christendom. 

All  this  would  have  been  well  enough,  would 
have  been  conducive  to  the  order,  virtue,  welfare, 
and  happiness  of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  people 
and  of  the  age,  had  these  new  elements  of  power 
—  these  monastic  orders,  been  true  to  their  profes- 
sions ;  had  they  been  the  simple,  unaffected,  lowly, 
world-renouncing,  pure -hearted,  devout  disciples  of 
Christ  they  assumed  to  be.  At  first,  they  were, 
no  doubt,  such,  to  a  large  extent  and  in  a  marked 
degree.  But  the  later  devotees  had  departed  widely 
from  the  standard  set  up  by  their  progenitors,  the 
founders  of  their  system  and  its  institutions.  They 
had  been  beguiled  by  the  same  seductive  arts  that 
had  lured  other  adherents  of  the  church  away  from 
the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel,  and  were  now  wallow- 
ing in  the  mire  of  a  common  corruption  ;  and  they 
played  their  part  in  the  drama  of  human  life  accord- 
ingly. Hear  what  my  favorite  historian  says  of 
them  as  they  were  in  the  eleventh  century : 

"All  the  writers  of  this  age  complain  of  the 
ignorance,  licentiousness,  frauds,  debaucheries,  and 
enormities  that  dishonored  the  greatest  part  of  the 
monastic  orders  —  not  to  mention  the  numerous 
marks  of  their  profligacy  and  impiety  that  have  come 
down  to  our  own  time.  However  astonished  we 
may  be  at  such  horrid  irregularities  among  a  set 
of  men  whose  destination  was  so  sacred  and  whose 
profession  was  so  austere,  we  shall  be  still  more 
surprised  to  learn  that  this  degenerate  order,  so  far 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS. 


351 


from  losing  aught  of  their  influence  and  credit  on 
account  of  their  licentiousness,  were  promoted,  on 
the  contrary,  to  the  highest  ecclesiastical  dignities 
and  beheld  their  opulence  and  authority  increasing 
from  day  to  day.  Our  surprise  will  be  diminished 
when  we  consider  the  gross  ignorance  and  super- 
stition, and  the  unbounded  licentiousness  and  cor- 
ruption of  manners  that  reigned  in  this  century 
among  all  ranks  and  orders  of  men." — Eccl.  Hist. 
Eleventh  CentJiiy,  Pai^t  II,  Chap.  2. 

It  appears,  however,  that  this  fearful  depravity 
was  not  universal  and  total  among  these  monks 
and  their  confreres,  but  that  reformations  were 
occasionally  attempted  by  them  with  considerable 
success,  and  that,  when  old  establishments  under 
their  rule  became  too  rotten  for  hope  of  bettering, 
new  ones  were  founded  and  made  subject  to  a 
more  rigid  and  thorough  discipline  ;  though  these 
also  frequently  became  perverted  into  cesspools  of 
depravity  by  worldly  prosperity,  ambition,  aggran- 
dizement, and  carnal  indulgence  of  various  sort. 

Of  one  of  these  efforts  among  the  disciples  of 
monasticism  to  restore  the  lost  estate  of  the  order 
and  re-establish  its  primitive  purity  of  thought  and 
conduct,  made  in  the  thirteenth  century,  our  histo- 
rian writes  thus: 

**The  religious  society  that  surpassed  all  the  rest 
in  purity  of  manners,  extent  of  fame,  number  of 
privileges,  and  multitude  of  members,  was  that  of 
the  Mendicants^  or  begging  friars,  whose  order  was 
first  established  in  this  century,  and  who,  by  the 
tenor   of  their   institution,    were   to   remain   entirely 


352  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

destitute  of  all  fixed  revenues  and  possessions. 
The  present  state  and  circumstances  of  the  church 
rendered  the  establishment  of  such  an  order  indis- 
pensably necessary.  The  monastic  orders  who  wal- 
lowed in  opulence  were  by  the  corrupting  influence 
of  their  ample  possessions  lulled  in  a  luxurious 
indolence.  They  lost  sight  of  all  their  religious 
obligations,  trampled  upon  the  authority  of  their 
superiors,  suffered  heresy  to  triumph  unrestrained 
and  the  sectaries  to  form  various  assemblies ;  in 
short,  they  were  incapable  of  promoting  the  true 
interests  of  the  Church,  and  abandoned  themselves 
without  either  shame  or  remorse  to  all  sorts  of 
crimes."  —  lb.  Part  11,  Chap  2. 

These  sects  which  rose  up  now  and  then  with 
loud  protests  against  reigning  abuses  and  corrup- 
tions were  really  the  reformers  of  those  days,  stand- 
ing out  bravely  for  a  moral  excellence  and  strictness 
of  life  in  striking  contrast  with  what  existed  around 
them  in  all  departments  of  society.  They  each  and 
all  did  a  good  work  for  a  time,  but  were  often  prone 
to  fanatical  extravagances  and,  even  with  growing 
popularity  and  influence,  to  reprehensible  excesses, 
becoming  themselves  in  their  turn  "a  burden  not 
only  to  the  people  but  to  the  Church  itself,"  and 
needing  themselves  to  be  reformed  and  molded 
anew  after  the  pattern  given  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. So  much  for  the  monks,  their  original  purity, 
their  utility,  their  decadence  and  supersedure — their 
providential  place  in  the  Church  universal  and  in 
the  progressive  history  of  mankind. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  353 

3.  No  review  of  the  centuries  brought  to  notice 
in  this  discourse  would  be  complete  or  reasonably 
satisfactory  without  mention,  brief  though  it  may 
be,  of  the  Holy  Wars  which  so  emphatically  dis- 
tinguished them  ;  the  Crusades,  as  they  are  called 
in  general  history.  The  Mohammedans,  followers 
of  the  wonderful  prophet  of  the  seventh  century 
whose  name  they  bear,  were  masters  of  nearly  all 
those  portions  of  Asia  and  Africa  in  which  Chris- 
tianity was  first  preached  and  for  several  hundred 
years  nominally  prevailed.  They  had  obtained  a 
foothold  in  Europe  and  were  threatening  the  decay- 
ing Greek  empire  and  that  portion  of  the  Church 
resident  within  its  boundaries,  though  held  in  check 
by  the  so-called  Christians  of  western  and  north- 
ern Europe.  But  the  birthplace  of  Christ  and 
Jerusalem  were  firm  in  their  sacrilegious  grasp,  and 
thousands  of  pilgrims  to  the  places  made  sacred  by 
the  labors  and  sacrifices  of  their  Lord  and  his  early 
disciples  every  year,  were  subject  to  insult  and  out- 
rage at  their  hands.  This  was  a  cause  of  increas- 
ins:  irritation  and  offense,  generatino^  a  demand  for  a 
re-conquest  of  the  Holy  Land  and  the  expulsion  of 
the  unsanctified  invaders  from  its  territory.  The 
Popes  took  the  matter  in  hand  and  the  potentates 
of  all  Christendom  gave  it  their  sanction.  Under 
the  preaching  of  Peter  the  Hermit,  a  fanatical  monk 
who  assumed  championship  of  the  movement  for 
the  redemption  of  Palestine,  going  through  Europe 
urging  the  claims  of  his  cause  and  calling  for 
recruits  to  enlist  under  the  banner  of  the  cross, 
for    the    accomplishment    of    the    end    in    view,    the 


354  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

great  majority  of  the  people  of  every  rank  and 
calling  in  life  were  roused  to  an  intensity  of  feeling 
amounting  almost  to  madness.  Armies  were  mar- 
shalled into  service  and  sent  beyond  the  Bosphorus 
to  engage  in  the  conflict  with  the  indomitable, 
blood-thirsty  Saracen,  who,  by  force  and  arms,  had 
centuries  before  gained  possession  there.  A  suc- 
cession of  campaigns,  attended  with  the  vacillating 
fortunes  of  success  and  failure,  of  victory  and 
defeat ;  a  series  of  gigantic  wars  or  Crusades,  eight 
in  number,  extending  through  two  centuries  and 
involving  the  lives  of  millions  of  men  and  untold 
financial  resources,  was  inaugurated  and  carried 
forward  to  a  final  issue  of  discomfiture  and  over- 
throw to  the  Christian  cause. 

The  adventurers  who  engaged  in  these  miscalled 
holy  undertakings  were  for  the  most  part  men  with- 
out principle  or  honor,  capable  and  guilty  of  many 
a  form  of  iniquity.  The  first  division  of  the  army 
raised  by  Peter  the  Hermit  committed  the  most 
horrible  crimes  in  passing  through  Hungary  and 
Bulgaria,  then  Pagan  provinces,  which  so  incensed 
the  people  that  they  rose  up  in  arms  against  the 
miscreants  and  massacred  multitudes  of  them  ;  and 
subsequent  divisions  indulging  in  similar  outrages 
met  a  similar  fate.  During  the  progress  of  these 
numerous  expeditions  not  only  were  the  common 
soldiery  gathered  from  the  middle  and  lower  ranks 
of  life  guilty  of  acts  becoming  an  unprincipled  band 
of  robbers  and  assassins,  but  bishops  and  abbots, 
priests  and  monks,  girded  with  the  spear  and  battle- 
axe,  acting  as   chaplains,  commanders,  or   as    mem- 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  355 

bers  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  army,  "threw  off 
all  restraint,  led  the  most  lawless  and  profligate 
lives,  and  abandoned  themselves  to  all  sorts  of  licen- 
tiousness, committing  the  most  flagrant  and  extrava- 
gant excesses  without  reluctance  or  remorse."  Such 
was  the  character  of  those  who  rushed  to  arms  for 
the  overthrow  of  the  usurping  and  unbaptized  Mus- 
sleman  and  for  the  rescue  from  his  polluted  hands 
the  birthplace  and  sepulcher  of  their  acknowledged 
Lord  !  And  thus  did  they  shew  forth  their  loyalty 
to  him  and  His  Gospel  by  utterly  ignoring  his 
teachings  and  ruthlessly  trampling  his  most  sacred 
precepts  and  principles  under  foot  ! 

4.  It  will  further  illustrate  my  present  subject 
of  discourse  to  speak  of  another  monstrous  immor- 
ality of  the  period  under  review,  to  wit:  The 
assumption  on  the  part  of  the  priesthood  of  the 
power  of  granting  what  was  termed  absolution  from 
sin  ;  that  is,  the  power,  by  reason  of  their  office, 
of  granting  pardon  for  any  and  all  trangressions  of 
God's  law,  and  of  securing  the  remission  of  all 
penalty  for  wrong-doing,  for  such  considerations  as 
they  at  their  pleasure  might  propose  and  require. 
Love  of  lucre  and  the  necessities  of  war  seem  to 
have  been  for  a  time  the  most  weighty  motives 
animating  the  breast  of  prelates  in  the  exercise  of 
this  assumed  prerogative.  Thus  were  they  enabled 
to  become  immensely  rich  or  to  obtain  supplies  for 
the  purpose  of  repelling  invading  hosts,  making 
conquests  over  foreign  foes,  or  gaining  foreign  terri- 
tory. A  price  was  fixed  for  each  particular  exercise 
of  this  pretended   power  according  to  the  turpitude 


356  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

of  the  committed  sin  ;  the  more  flagrant  crimes 
requiring  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  mere  venial 
offences  a  proportionally  smaller  one.  As  the  people 
of  those  days  from  king  to  beggar  lived  in  perpet- 
ual fear  of  an  endless  hell  of  torture  and  misery, 
or,  at  least,  of  agonizing  purgatorial  fires  for  an 
indefinite  period  of  duration,  they  were  each  and 
all  easily  made  the  prey  of  these  pious  swindlers, 
who  played  upon  their  fears  as  a  means  of  obtain- 
ing money  from  them ;  most  persons  being  quite 
willing  to  give  what  was  demanded  of  them  in  order 
to  escape  the  flames  of  either  place  of  threatened 
pain  and  woe. 

Moreover,  it  was  not  alone  for  immunity  from 
the  punishment  due  to  sins  already  committed  that 
payment  could  be  made,  but  to  those  contem- 
plated—  yet  to  be  committed.  And  when  applied 
to  cases  of  the  latter  sort,  the  purchased  favors 
took  the  name  of  indulgences,  and  these  in  process 
of  time,  came  to  be  articles  of  common  trafflc,  as 
they  continue  to  be  to  this  day  in  some  form  or 
other,  in  certain  departments  of  the  church  and  in 
various  countries  of  Christendom.  Thus  it  was 
that,  by  the  granting  of  absolution  for  past  iniqui- 
ties, and  the  sale  of  indulgences  for  future  ones, 
the  ecclesiastics  of  that  day  secured  to  themselves 
such  munificent  revenues  as  no  heathen  priesthood 
ever  dreamed  of  or  hoped  to  acquire  ;  to  be  devoted 
to  purposes  of  personal  accumulation  or  advance- 
ment, of  church  extension  or  adornment,  of  hereti- 
cal suppression  or  persecution,  or  of  territorial 
conquest    and     expansion,     as     might     respectively 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  357 

please  them.  Sometimes  these  favors  were  dis- 
pensed to  secure  recruits  to  the  army,  and  men 
were  induced  to  go  forth  to  battle  with  the  ene- 
mies of  the  state  or  with  infidels  to  the  church 
under,  the  ostensible  guaranty  of  exemption  from 
the  consequences  of  all  previous  wrong-doing  and 
of  all  which  they  might  thereafter  be  guilty  of  at  the 
bar  of  a  righteous  God.  Could  infernal  ingenuity 
devise  a  more  impious  and  effective  way  of  per- 
petuating the  reign  of  wickedness  among  men  or 
of  preventing  the  coming  of  the  divine  kingdom 
on   the  earth  .'' ! 

5.  In  conclusion  I  can  but  refer  briefly  to  that 
mighty  engine  of  cruelty  and  torture  and  death  — 
the  Inquisition,  which  was  established  in  the 
thirteenth  century  by  a  Pope  bearing  the  most 
inappropriate  name  of  Innocent  III.  Its  avowed 
object  was  the  suppression  of  heresy  and  it  had 
plenty  of  work  to  do  in  that  line  though  with  little 
effect.  The  corruption  and  depravity  that  had 
gained  so  large  a  place  in  the  Church  had  become 
so  outrageous  and  intolerable  as  to  rouse  whatever 
of  moral  vitality  was  latent  in  it  to  a  resolute  pro- 
test and  to  a  re-assertion  of  the  principles  of  Primi- 
tive Christianity  and  of  the  duties  enjoined  therein, 
whenever  an  opportunity  of  doing  so  occurred  with 
any  hope  of  doing  good,  even  at  the  risk  of  threat- 
ened tortures  and  ultimate  martyrdom.  No  doubt 
some  of  these  protestants  were  great  errorists  in 
doctrine  and  perhaps  in  practice.  But  good,  bad, 
or  indifferent,  they  were  all  regarded  as  rebels 
against   both    civil    and    ecclesiastical    authority  and 


358  PHIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY. 

as  dangerous  heretics,  to  be  subdued  or  extermin- 
ated. And  this  was  undertaken  with  a  firm,  relent- 
less, bloody  hand  ;  the  so-called  Holy  Inquisition 
with  its  manifold  horrors  being  invoked  to  secure 
that  end.  All  Europe  was  scoured  by  hersey-hunters, 
who  brought  their  victims,  when  found,  to  this  inhu- 
man institution,  where  they  were  put  to  the  rack 
or  subjected  to  other  tortures  such  as  human  fiends 
only  could  invent  in  order  to  make  them  recant  ; 
refusing  to  do  which,  as  was  not  infrequently  the 
case,  they  were  put  to  a  most  cruel  and  agonizing 
death.  And  all  this  inhumanity  was  practiced  in 
the  name  of  that  Christ  who  taught  his  followers 
to  live  together  as  brethren,  to  do  to  others  as 
they  would  have  others  do  to  them,  and  to  love 
their  enemies,  bless  those  that  curse  them  and  do 
good  to  those  that  despitefully  use  them  and  perse- 
cute them  ;  who,  by  word  and  deed,  by  precept  and 
example,  condemned  and  prohibited  not  only  all 
proscription  and  persecution  for  opinion's  sake,  but 
all  intentional  injury  to  any  human  being  even  to 
the  worst  of  foes.  How  hath  the  cause  of  pure 
and  undefiled  religion  been  dishonored  and  harmed 
by  such  outrages  on  the  part  of  its  avowed  dis- 
ciples ! 


DISCOURSE  XXV. 

THE   MORAL    CONDITION   OF    CHRISTENDOM 
DURING   THE   FOURTEENTH,  FIFTEENTH,  AND   SIX- 
TEENTH CENTURIES. 

"Ah  sinful  nation,  a  people  laden  with  iniquity,  a  seed  of 
evil  doers,  children  that  are  corrupters.  Thy  princes  are 
rebellious  and  companions  of  thieves  ;  every  one  loveth  gifts 
and  followeth  after  rewards ;  they  judge  not  the  fatherless 
neither  doth  the  cause  of  the  widow  come  unto  them."  — 
/s(2.  i.  4,  23. 

The  present  discourse  resumes  the  moral  survey 
of  Christendom  at  the  historical  point  where  the 
last  one  left  it  — the  close  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury—  and  continues  it  through  the  fourteenth, 
fifteenth,  and  sixteenth  centuries —  an  era  of  still 
deeply  prevailing  darkness,  though  relieved  by 
encouraging  gleams  of  light,  by  some  promise  of 
coming  day.  We  have  groped  our  way  along  devi- 
ous paths,  through  perhaps  the  gloomiest  period  of 
the  medieval  ages,  and  peered  into  some  of  the 
lowest  abysses  of  demoralization  into  which  the 
apostate  and  degenerate  church  ever  descended  ; 
but  we  have  still  horrible  manifestations  of  vice 
and  cruelty,  of  debauchery  and  excess  to  take  note 
of  and  expose  to  view  ;  mostly,  however,  as  legiti- 
mate outgrowths  or  results  of  pre-existing  depravity 
and    corruption   rather  than    fresh    developments    of 


360  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

iniquity  and  guilt.  We  have  found  that  every  dis- 
tinguishing principle,  precept,  and  peculiarity  of 
the  Christian  gospel  had  been  either  grossly 
neglected,  perverted,  or  set  at  defiance,  not  only 
by  the  more  ignorant  and  inconspicuous  masses  of 
the  people  but  by  their  confessed  superiors  in  the 
church  as  well  as  in  the  state.  While  this  condi- 
tion of  things  continued  to  a  large  and  lamentable 
extent  in  the  three  hundred  years  designated,  there 
happily  appeared  during  this  period  auspicious  signs 
of  reformation  in  different  localities,  or,  at  least, 
of  counteraction  —  faint  indications  of  a  change  for 
the  better,  of  the  dawn  of  a  new  morning  upon  the 
world.  I  will  prelude  what  it  becomes  me  to  say 
concerning  the  corruptions  of  Christianity  that  still 
prevailed  with  a  brief  rehearsal  of  the  more  impor 
tant  of  these  signs  of  promise. 

I.  I  begin  by  chronicling  the  fact  of  the  revival 
of  learning  as  one  of  the  first  of  them  ;  one  that 
aided  greatly  in  dispelling  the  shades  of  ignorance 
and  in  awakening  in  the  minds  of  men  a  love  of 
truth  and  liberty.  Previous  to  the  opening  of  the 
fourteenth  century  schools  of  considerable  impor- 
tance had  been  established  in  some  of  the  larger 
cities  of  western  and  northern  Europe;  crude  indeed 
but  valuable  both  in  the  work  they  accomplished  and 
in  preparing  the  way  for  something  better  in  their 
line  which  was  soon  to  come.  During  the  period 
in  review  educational  institutions  multiplied  rapidly, 
several  of  them  later  on  becoming  renowned  uni- 
versities. Through  their  influence  not  only  were 
many    young    men    trained    in    the    rudiments    and 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  361 

principles  of  science,  literature,  philosophy,  art,  and 
morals,  but  a  desire  for  knowledge  was  awakened 
in  the  public  mind,  thought  was  stimulated,  the 
spirit  of  inquiry  went  abroad,  ancient  books  were 
sought  after  and  read  and  new  ones  were  written, 
while  the  art  of  printing,  invented  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  gave  a  fresh  impulse  to  the  rising  intelli- 
gence of  the  masses  of  people  and  funished  vastly 
increased  facilities  for  promoting  it.  Thenceforth 
there  was  rapidly  advancing  light  upon  all  impor- 
tant human  interests  and  concerns,  and  the  myrmi- 
dons of  ignorance,  superstition,  and  wickedness,  of 
high  and  low  degree,  were  held  in  check  or  made 
to  recoil  and  slink  away  from  their  former  ostenta- 
tious displays  of  usurpation  and  tyrannical  power. 

2.  With  the  increase  of  knowledge  and  a  cor- 
responding mental  activity  and  desire  for  truth,  to 
which  was  added  a  freshly  aroused  moral  impulse, 
dissenters,  protestants,  reformers  sprang  up  and 
multiplied  in  all  parts  of  Christendom.  Heretical 
sects  and  parties  became  more  numerous,  many  of 
which  were  made  up  of  wild  fanatics  and  imprac- 
ticable irrational  zealots  of  little  account  as  moral 
and  regenerating  forces  in  the  world,  while  others 
of  a  different  type  proved  of  immense  service  to  the 
cause  of  Christ  and  to  humanity  —  architects  were 
they  of  a  new  era  to  the  world.  Among  the  most  nota- 
ble and  worthy  of  these  were  the  VValdenses,  as  they 
were  termed,  who  stood  for  radical  reform  in  the 
church  and  a  rehabilitation  of  Primitive  Christianity 
in  the  creeds  and  lives  of  men.  These  many  heresi- 
archs,  and  especially  the  more  rational,   reformatory, 


362  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

and  Christian  of  them  —  the  Waldenses  and  those 
of  similar  character  —  were  subjected  to  the  most 
cruel  persecutions  from  the  Papal  authorities  and 
their  subordinates,  hunted  as  they  were  like  wild 
beasts  and  driven  from  their  homes,  and  taking- 
refuge  in  dense  forests,  in  caves  of  the  earth,  and 
in  wild  mountain  retreats,  from  the  violence  and 
fury  of  their  blood-thirsty  pursuers.  Nevertheless, 
they  could  not  be  silenced  or  exterminated.  The 
more  they  were  outraged  and  maltreated,  the  more 
was  their  spirit  diffused  abroad  among  the  nations; 
the  more  did  hostility  to  the  assumptions  of  the 
Papacy  and  to  the  enormities  and  corruptions  of 
the  Church  increase ;  the  more  did  heretical  dis- 
senters and  reformers  abound.  Wickliffe  in  England 
appealed  from  the  authority  of  the  Pope  to  the 
Bible,  considerable  portions  of  which  he  translated 
into  his  native  tongue  and  distributed  among  the 
people,  causing  great  commotion  and  gaining  for 
himself  a  multitude  of  adherents.  John  Huss  and 
Jerome  of  Prague  filled  Bohemia  with  their  power- 
ful protests  against  the  Romish  hierarchy  and  sowed 
broadcast  the  seedgrain  of  a  larger  faith  and  a 
better  life  throughout  central  Europe,  for  which 
they  were  made  to  suffer  martyrdom  at  the  stake. 
The  learned  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  "the  morning 
star  of  the  Reformation,"  shed  the  mild  beams  of 
a  renovated  Christianity  along  the  shores  and  be- 
yond the  waters  of  the  North  Sea.  And  then 
in  due  time  came  Martin  Luther,  John  Calvin, 
Melancthon,  Zwinglius,  Servetus,  and  their  indom- 
itable coagitators,  taking    the    field    in   a  truly  holy 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  36^ 

warfare  with  the  powers  of  darkness  reigning  at 
Rome  and  with  spiritual  wickedness  in  all  depart- 
ments of  the  Church,  thus  inaugurating  and  car- 
rying forward  to  a  successful  issue  a  revolution 
that  made  the  sixteenth  century  memorable  in 
both  the  civil  and  religious  history  of  the  human 
race. 

3.  Another  important  cause  contributing  to  the 
same  beneficent  result  was  an  open  disruption  in 
the  fourteenth  century  between  the  Papal  power 
and  several  temporal  monarchs,  particularly  those 
of  France  and  Germany,  whose  jurisdictions  had 
previously  been  tamely  submissive  and  tributary 
thereto.  The  supreme  head  of  the  Church,  Boniface 
VIII,  urged  with  insolent  determination  his  claim 
to  absolute  control  of  civil  as  well  as  ecclesiastical 
affairs  in  all  countries  acknowledging  allegiance  to 
him.  This  was  denied  most  emphatically  by  Philip 
the  Fair,  king  of  France,  who  resolutely  maintained 
his  own  sovereign  prerogatives,  and  who  soon 
''convinced  Europe  that  it  was  possible  to  set 
bounds  to  the  overgrown  arrogance  of  the  bishop 
of  Rome,  though  many  crowned  heads  had  attempted 
it  without  success."  To  this  monarch  it  seemed  to 
have  been  left  to  fight  the  battle  that  ensued  upon 
the  issue  thus  raised,  not  in  his  own  behalf  alone 
but  for  the  other  temporal  rulers  who  were  in  sym- 
pathy with  him.  A  very  pointed  and  bitter  cor- 
respondence was  carried  on  at  the  outset  between 
Boniface  and  Philip,  and  this  ultimated  in  a  sen- 
tence of  excommunication  from  the  Papal  chair 
against  the  king  and  all   his  adherents.     Whereupon 


364  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

Philip  was  very  angry,  and,  after  consulting  and 
being  assured  of  the  support  of  his  courtiers  and 
nobles,  sent  a  secret  embassy  to  Italy  for  the  pur- 
pose of  raising  a  sedition  there  which  should  result 
in  seizing  his  pontificial  antagonist  and  bringing  him 
to  Lyons.  The  project  so  far  succeeded  as  to  gain 
possession  of  the  person  of  Boniface,  but  before  he 
could  be  taken  to  France  the  excited  populace  re- 
captured him,  conducted  him  back  to  Rome,  where 
he  soon  after  died;  in  consequence,  it  is  said,  of 
the  violent  treatment  he  received  at  the  hands  of 
his  antagonists.  It  was  a  bad  piece  of  business, 
but  it  settled  forever  the  question  of  the  absolute 
supremacy  of  His  Holiness  in  concerns  of  state, 
and  so  helped  the  cause  of  religious  liberty  and 
the  ultimate  reformation  of  the  prevailing  ecclesi- 
asticism  of  the  age. 

4.  This  wholesome  resistance  to  papal  domina- 
tion was  followed  by  another  event  of  no  less  con- 
sequence, of  which  it  was  perhaps  a  contributory 
cause.  I  refer  to  a  violent  rivalry  which  ere  long 
sprung  up  between  ambitious  candidates  for  the 
pontifical  throne  and  which  resulted  in  the  election 
of  two  or  three  hostile  popes  by  different  factions 
of  the  cardinalate  —  the  schism  thus  created  weak- 
ening to  a  very  marked  extent  the  hitherto  exer- 
cised authority  and  power  of  the  papacy  and 
hastening  the  advent  of  a  better  era  to  the  church 
and  world.  Of  this  matter  Mosheim  says: — "This 
dissension  was  fomented  with  such  dreadful  success 
and  arose  to  such  a  shameful  height  that  for  fifty 
years  the  church  had  two  or  three  different   heads 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  365- 

at  the  same  time,  each  of  the  contending  popes 
forming  plots  and  thundering  anathemas  against 
their  competitors.  The  distress  and  calamity  of 
those  times  are  beyond  all  power  of  description  ; 
for  not  to  insist  upon  the  perpetual  contentions 
and  wars  between  the  factions  of  the  several  popes, 
by  which  multitudes  lost  their  fortunes  and  their 
lives,  all  sense  of  religion  was  extinguished  in  most 
places  and  profligacy  rose  to  a  scandalous  excess. 
The  clergy,  while  they  vehemently  contended  which 
of  the  inimical  popes  ought  to  be  deemed  the 
true  successor  of  Christ,  were  so  excessively  cor- 
rupt as  to  be  no  longer  studious  to  keep  up  even 
an  appearance  of  religion  or  decency  ;  and,  in  con- 
sequence of  all  this,  many  plain  well  meaning  peo- 
ple were  overwhelmed  with  doubt  and  plunged  into 
the  deepest  mental  distress.  Nevertheless  these 
abuses  were  by  their  consequences  greatly  condu- 
cive both  to  the  civil  and  religious  interests  of 
mankind  ;  for  by  these  dissensions  the  Papal  power 
received  an  incurable  wound,  and  kings  and  princes 
who  had  formerly  been  the  slaves  of  the  lordly 
pontiffs  now  became  their  judges  and  masters,  and 
many  of  the  least  stupid  among  the  people  had  the 
courage  to  disregard  and  despise  the  popes  on 
account  of  their  vicious  disputes  about  dominion, 
to  commit  their  salvation  to  God  alone,  and  to 
admit  as  a  maxim  that  the  prosperity  of  the  church 
might  be  maintained  and  the  interests  of  religion 
secured  and  promoted  without  a  visible  head 
crowned  with  a  spiritual  supremacy."  —  Eccl  Hist. 
Century  XIV,  Part  II,  CJiap.  2.     So  it   may  be  that 


S66  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITr 

next  to  truth  and  righteousness  a  rotten  ripeness 
of  error  and  wickedness  may  open  the  eyes  of 
honest  people  and  impel  them  to  demand  and  pro- 
ceed to  inaugurate  a  radical  reformation. 

5.  In  the  same  way  too,  it  may  be  remarked, 
the  fearful  persecutions  with  which  all  classes  of 
dissentients  and  reformers  were  visited,  including 
the  horrors  of  the  Inquisition,  had  a  tendency  to 
further  the  same  desirable  end.  Thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  —  untold  myriads  of  people  inno- 
cent of  crime,  were  plundered,  driven  from  their 
homes,  made  the  prey  of  mercenary  and  blood- 
thirsty marauders  clothed  with  the  robes  of  office, 
wounded,  imprisoned,  slaughtered  outright,  or  made 
to  suffer  a  lingering  death  by  indescribable  tortures, 
for  the  sole  reason  that  they  would  not  confess  the 
established  faith,  acknowledge  the  papal  suprem- 
acy, and  bow  submissive  to  ursurped  power  — 
because  they  differed  from  their  superiors  in  office 
upon  religious  themes,  dared  to  think  for  them- 
selves in  loyalty  to  truth  and  duty,  and  to  speak 
the  word  that  conscience  required  them  to  speak. 
Such  atrocities  at  length  aroused  the  slumbering 
moral  sense  of  intelligent,  highminded  people,  caus- 
ing a  reaction  which  served  to  check  the  violence 
and  madness  of  their  perpetrators,  and  to  produce  a 
most  salutary  and  humanizing  effect  upon  the  pub- 
lic mind;  thus  tending  to  purify  the  theology,  the 
morality,  and  the  life  of  Christendom.  So  it  was 
then,  as  in  many  other  instances  under  the  over- 
ruHng  providence  of  God,  that  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs    became    the    seed    of    the    church  —  of   an 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  367 

improved    and    greatly    transformed    church,    if    not 
of  a  wholly  regenerate  and   Christian   one. 

But  what  was  the  actual  moral  condition  of  the 
nominal  Christian  world  during  the  centuries  now 
in  review  ?  Alas,  that  we  are  obliged  to  confess 
it  to  have  been,  as  already  intimated,  sadly  low  and 
corrupt.  The  favorable  occurrences  to  which  I 
have  referred  were  but  incidents  in  the  history  of 
the  period,  ripples  in  the  tide  of  affairs,  flashes  of 
light  in  the  midst  of  generally  prevailing  darkness, 
fore-gleams  of  a  day  the  dawn  of  which  was  still 
in  the  future  awaiting  the  progress  of  time  and  the 
workings  of  Him  in  whose  hands  are  all  human 
fortunes  and  destinies.  This  is  what  Mosheim  says 
of  this  matter:  —  "The  most  eminent  writers  of  this 
(the  fifteenth)  century  unanimously  lament  the  mis- 
erable condition  to  which  the  Christian  church  was 
reduced  by  the  corruption  of  its  ministers  and  which 
seemed  to  portend  nothing  less  than  its  total  ruin, 
if  Providence  should  not  interfere,  by  extraordinary 
means  for  its  deliverance  and  preservation.  The 
vices  that  reigned  among  the  Roman  pontiffs  and 
indeed  among  all  ecclesiastical  orders  were  so  fla- 
grant that  the  complaints  of  these  good  men  did 
not  appear  at  all  exaggerated  or  their  apprehen- 
sions ill-founded  ;  nor  had  any  of  the  corrupt  advo- 
cates of  the  clergy  the  courage  to  call  them  to 
account  for  the  sharpness  of  their  censures  and  of 
their  complaints.  The  rulers  of  the  church,  who 
lived  in  luxurious  indolence  and  in  the  infamous 
practice  of  all  kinds  of  vice,  were  even  obliged  to 
hear  with  a    placid    countenance   and    even   to  com- 


368  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

mend  these  bold  censors  who  declaimed  against  the 
degeneracy  of  the  church,  declared  that  there  was 
scarcely  anything  sound  either  in  its  head  or  in  its 
members,  and  demanded  the  aid  of  the  secular  arm 
and  the  destroying  sword  to  lop  off  the  parts  that  were 
infected  with  this  grievous  and  deplorable  contagion." 
—  Eccl.  Hist.  FifteeJitJi  Century,  Part  II,  Chap.  2. 

The  distinguished  and  trustworthy  D'Aubigne, 
author  of  the  History  of  the  Reformation,  testifies 
essentially  to  the  same  effect,  as  follows: — "Doubt- 
less the  corruption  was  not  universal  ;  justice 
requires  that  this  should  not  be  forgotten.  The 
Reformation  elicited  many  shining  instances  of 
piety,  righteousness  and  strength  of  mind."  "If 
in  these  our  days  any  one  were  to  collect  the 
immoralities  and  degrading  vices  that  are  commit- 
ted in  any  single  country,  such  a  mass  of  corrup- 
tion would  doubtless  be  enough  to  shock  every 
mind.  But  the  evil  at  the  period  we  speak  of  bore 
a  character  and  universality  that  it  has  not  borne 
at  any  subsequent  date,  and,  above  all,  the  abomina- 
tion stood  in  the  holy  places  which  it  has  not  been 
permitted  to  do  since  the  Reformation."  *•  The 
jDioclamation  and  sale  of  indulgences  powerfully 
stimulate  an  ignorant  people  to  immorality."  "The 
venders  of  indulgences  were  naturally  tempted  to 
further  the  sale  of  their  merchandize  by  presenting 
them  to  the  people  under  the  most  attractive  and 
seducing  aspect."  ''All  that  the  multitude  saw  in 
them  was  a  permission  to  sin  ;  and  the  sellers  were 
in  no  haste  to  remove  an  impression  so  favorable 
to  the  sale." 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  369 

"The  priests  were  the  first  who  felt  the  effects 
of  this  corrupting  influence.  Desirous  to  exalt 
themselves  they  had  sunk  themselves  lower.  In- 
fatuated men  !  They  aimed  to  rob  God  of  a  ray 
of  his  glory  and  to  place  it  on  their  own  brow  ; 
but  their  attempt  had  failed  and  they  had  received 
only  a  leaven  of  corruption  from  the  power  of  evil. 
The  annals  of  the  age  swarm  with  scandals.  In 
many  places  the  people  were  well  pleased  that  the 
priest  should  have  a  woman  in  keeping,  in  order 
that  their  wives  might  be  safe  from  his  seductions. 
What  scenes  of  humiliation  were  witnessed  in  the 
house  of  the  pastor.  The  wretched  man  supported 
the  mother  and  her  children  with  the  tithe  and  the 
offering ;  his  conscience  was  troubled  ;  he  blushed 
in  the  presence  of  his  people,  of  his  servants,  and 
before  God.  The  mother  fearing  to  come  to  want 
when  the  priest  should  die  provided  against  it  be- 
forehand and  robbed  the  house.  Her  character  was 
gone  ;  her  children  were  a  living  accusation  of  her. 
Treated  on  all  sides  with  contempt,  they  plunged 
into  brawls  and  debaucheries.  Such  was  the  family 
of  the  priest.  These  horrid  scenes  were  a  kind  of 
instruction  the  people  were  ready  enough  to  follow." 

"  The  higher  orders  of  the  hierarchy  were  equally 
corrupt.  Dignitaries  of  the  Church  preferred  the 
tumult  of  the  camp  to  the  service  of  the  altar.  To 
be  able,  lance  in  hand,  to  compel  his  neighbors  to 
do  him  homage,  was  one  of  the  most  conspicuous 
qualifications  of  a  bishop.  Baldwin,  archbishop  of 
Treves,  was  constantly  at  war  with  his  neighbors 
and  vassals  ;  razing  their  castles,  building  fortresses 


370  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

of  his  own,  and  thinking  only  how  to  enlarge  his 
territory.  A  certain  bishop  of  Eichstadt,  when 
dispensing  justice,  wore  under  his  habit  a  coat  of 
mail  and  held  in  his  hand  a  long  sword.  He  used 
to  say  he  did  not  fear  five  Bavarians  provided  they 
would  attack  him  in  the  open  field.  Everywhere 
the  bishops  were  engaged  in  constant  war  with  the 
towns;  the  citizens  demanding  freedom  and  the 
bishops  requiring  implicit  obedience.  If  the  latter 
triumphed  they  punished  the  revolters  by  sacrificing 
numerous  victims  to  their  vengeance;  but  the  flame 
of  insurrection  broke  out  again  at  the  very  moment 
when  it  was  thought  to  be  extinguished." 

"And  what  a  spectacle  was  presented  by  the 
Pontifical  throne  in  the  generation  immediately 
preceding  the  Reformation  !  Rome,  it  must  be 
acknowledged,  has  seldom  been  witness  to  so  much 
infamy.  Roderigo  Borgia,  after  living  in  illicit 
intercourse  with  a  Roman  lady,  had  continued  a 
similar  connection  with  one  of  her  daughters,  by 
name  Rosa  Vanozza,  by  whom  he  had  five  children. 
He  was  living  at  Rome  with  Vanozza  and  other 
abandoned  women,  and,  as  cardinal  and  archbishop, 
visiting  the  churches  and  hospitals,  when  the  death 
of  Innocent  VIII  created  a  vacancy  in  the  pontifi- 
cal chair.  He  succeeded  in  obtaining  it  by  bribing 
each  of  the  cardinals  at  a  stipulated  price.  Four 
mules  laden  with  silver  were  publicly  driven  into 
the  palace  of  Sforza,  the  most  influential  of  the 
•cardinals.  Borgia  became  Pope  under  the  name  of 
Alexander  VI,  and  rejoiced  in  the  attainment  of 
the  pinnacle  of  pleasures." 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  371 

"The  very  clay  of  his  coronation  he  created  his  son 
Caesar,  a  ferocious  and  dissolute  youth,  archbishop 
of  Valencia  and  bishop  of  Pampeluna.  He  next 
proceded  to  celebrate  in  the  Vatican  the  nuptials 
of  his  daughter,  Lucrezia,  by  festivities,  at  which 
his  mistress,  Julia  Bella,  was  present,  and  which 
were  enlivened  by  farces  and  indecent  songs. 
'Most  of  the  ecclesiastics,'  says  an  historian,  'had 
their  mistresses,  and  all  the  convents  of  the  capital 
were  houses  of  ill-fame.'  Caesar  Borgia  espoused 
the  cause  of  the  Guelphs,  and  when  by  their  assist- 
ance he  had  annihilated  the  power  of  the  Ghibe 
lines  he  turned  upon  the  Guelphs  and  crushed 
them  in  their  turn.  But  he  would  allow  none  to 
share  in  the  spoils  of  his  atrocities." 

"  Alexander  had  a  favorite  named  Peroto  whose 
preferment  offended  the  young  duke.  (  Caesar  hav- 
ing been  honored  with  the  duchy  of  Valentinois 
by  Louis  XII,  king  of  France,  as  a  condition  upon 
which  a  divorce  from  his  wife  was  granted  him  by 
the  Pope.)  Caesar  rushed  upon  Peroto  who  sought 
refuge  under  the  Papal  mantle,  clasping  the  Pontiff 
in  his  arms.  Caesar  stabbed  him  and  the  blood  of 
the  victim  spirted  into  the  Pontiff's  face.  'The 
Pope,'  adds  a  contemporary  and  a  witness  of  these 
atrocities,  'loves  the  duke,  his  son,  and  lives  in 
great  fear  of  him.'  " 

"  Caesar  was  one  of  the  handsomest  as  he  was 
one  of  the  most  powerful  men  of  his  age.  Six 
wild  bulls  fell  beneath  his  hand  in  single  combat. 
Nightly  assassinations  took  place  in  the  streets  of 
Rome.     Poison    often    destroyed    those    whom    the 


372  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

dagger  could  not  reach.  Every  one  feared  to  move 
or  breathe  least  he  should  be  the  next  victim.  Cae- 
sar Borgia  was  the  hero  of  crime.  The  spot  on 
earth  where  all  iniquity  met  and  overflowed  was 
the  Pontiff's  seat.  When  man  has  given  himself 
over  to  the  power  of  evil,  the  higher  his  preten- 
sions before  God  the  lower  he  is  seen  to  sink  in 
the  depths  of  hell.  The  dissolute  entertainments 
given  by  the  Pope,  his  son  Caesar,  and  his  daugh- 
ter Lucrezia,  were  such  as  can  neither  be  described 
nor  thought  of.  The  most  impure  groves  of  ancient 
worship  saw  not  the  like."  At  length  "the  Pope, 
in  order  to  rid  himself  of  a  wealthy  cardinal,  had 
prepared  poison  in  a  small  box  of  sweetmeats  which 
was  to  be  placed  upon  the  table  after. a  sumptuous 
feast.  The  cardinal  receiving  a  hint  of  the  design 
gained  over  the  attendant  and  the  poisoned  box 
was  placed  before  Alexander.  He  ate  of  it  and 
perished.  The  whole  city  came  together  and  could 
hardly  satiate  themselves  with  the  sight  of  this  dead 
viper.  Such  was  the  man  who  filled  the  pontifical 
throne  at  the  commencement  of  the  age  of  the 
Reformation."  History  of  the  Great  Reforma- 
tion, tJie  four  volumes  complete  ifi  one.  — //.  24-27. 
We  have  now  reached  the  climax  of  medieval 
iniquity  and  corruption.  There  were  no  lower 
depths  apparently  of  moral  degradation  and  shame- 
lessness  into  which  men  and  nations  could  plunge; 
into  which  the  nominal  Church  of  Christ  could 
sink.  P^or  all  this  existed  in  Christendom — it  was 
found  in  the  high  as  well  as  in  the  low  places  of 
the  religious  world  —  in  the  metropolis  of  that  great 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  373 

empire  which  gloried  in  the  name  of  the  crucified; 
which  claimed  allegiance  to  the  divine  man  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  professed  to  be  the  especial 
guardian  and  representative  of  his  cause  and  king- 
dom on  the  earth  !  And  yet  his  commanding 
morality  was  utterly  reversed  and  his  holiest  injunc- 
tions were  lost  in  the  cesspools  of  the  foulest  crimi- 
nality. No  wonder  that  a  reaction  came.  No  wonder 
that  outraged  and  dishonored  human  nature  was 
moved  to  protest  and  revolt  ;  no  wonder  that  the 
moral  sense  of  the  better  portion  of  the  people 
cried  out  for  a  reform  ;  no  wonder  that  God  raised 
up  and  sent  forth  new  prophets  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness, to  call  men  to  repentance  and  a  better 
life ;  "  to  lift  up  their  voices  like  a  trumpet  and 
show  his  people  their  trangressions  and  the  house 
of  Jacob  their  sins." 

And  so  the  great  Protestant  Reformation,  by  a 
mighty  uprising  of  the  human  soul  against  unparal- 
leled wickedness  and  shame,  by  the  demand  of  the 
awakened  conscience  of  men  for  greater  fidelity  to 
Christ,  and  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  work- 
ing in  and  through  human  instrumentality,  was 
inaugurated  and  launched  upon  the  tide  of  advanc- 
ing time.  Foregleams  of  it  had  appeared  in  Eng- 
land under  Wickliffe  in  1360,  and  more  vividly  under 
Huss,  Jerome,  and  others  in  the  following  century. 
But  it  did  not  arise  in  its  strength  until  Luther 
and  Melancthon  in  Germany,  Zuinglius  in  Switzer- 
land, Calvin  in  France,  and  others  in  other  coun- 
tries appeared  during  the  sixteenth  century  and 
made  it   a   power  of    redemption   in    the  world.      Of 


374  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

its  results  and  the  extent  to  which  it  restored 
Christianity  to  its  primitive  purity  and  simplicity 
and  brought  the  church  back  to  the  Master,  I  will 
speak  in  subsequent  discourses. 


DISCOURSE    XXVI. 

THE    AVERAGE    MORALITY    OF    CHRISTENDOM 

ly  THE  SEVEXTEETH  AND  EIGHTEENTH 

CENTURIES. 

"  And  I  will  turn  my  hand  upon  thee  and  purely  purge  away 
thy  dross,  and  take  away  all  thy  tin.  And  I  will  restore  thy 
judges  as  at  the  first,  and  thy  counsellors  as  at  the  beginning: 
Afterward  thou  shalt  be  called,  The  city  of  righteousness,  the 
faithful  city."  —  Isa.  i.  25,  26. 

The  prophetic  announcement  of  this  text  has  not 
yet  been  fulfilled.  The  happy  consummation  it 
heralds  is  still  far  in  the  future,  though  the  cor- 
rective process  which  shall  ultimately  achieve  it 
began  with  what  is  termed  in  history  The  Reforma- 
tion. The  sixteenth  century  saw  that  great  move- 
ment successfully  inaugurated  and  started  on  its 
way  to  final  victory.  It  was  regarded  with  varying 
emotions  and  received  diversified  treatment  from 
the  thoughtful,  religious  public  of  that  day.  Its 
enemies  hated,  contemned,  and  even  ridiculed  it, 
while  its  friends  admired,  revered,  panegyrized  it  ; 
and  so  it  has  been  to  the  present  moment.  The 
truth  concerning  it  lies  between  the  two  estimates 
thus  indicated  and  expressed.  It  was  not  altogether 
worthy  of  approval  and  commendation,  nor  did  it 
deserve  wholesale  and  undiscriminating  reprobation. 
It  had  in  it  great  good  and  great  promise  of  good 


376  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

to  the  cause  of  truth  and  to  humanity  ;  it  also  had 
serious  defects  and  shortcomings.  All  this  seems 
natural  and  probable  when  we  reflect  upon  the 
intellectual,  moral,  social,  and  political  state  of 
Europe  at  the  time  the  agitation  which  produced 
that  remarkable  upheaval  broke  out,  and  remember 
that  the  elements  entering  into  it  were  for  the 
most  part  gross,  crude,  egotistic,  and  turbulent 
even,  as  well  as  religiously  zealous  and  passionate, 
without  much  truly  Christian  circumspection  and 
scrupulosity.  This  leaves  room  for  instances  of 
exceptional  moral  and  spiritual  excellence  in  the 
case  of  individuals  and  small  select  classes  or  sects, 
as  they  might  be  termed.  But  the  influence  of 
these  well-balanced,  truly  regenerate  minds  and 
hearts  was  but  as  a  whisper  in  the  midst  of  a 
tornado.  The  great  leaders  of  the  age,  ecclesiasti- 
cal, political,  philosophical,  military,  were  **  bulls  of 
Bashan "  or  "rams  of  Nabaioth."  The  conflicts 
that  arose  between  them  were  wars  of  the  giants, 
the  issues  of  which  were  nearly  all  determined  in 
the  last  resort  either  by  the  sword  or  by  the  pen 
of  diplomacy  dipped  in  human  gore.  But  what 
were  the  principal  elements  entering  into  and  con- 
currently producing  the  mighty  movement  known 
as   TJie  Reformation  ? 

I.  A  large  number  of  honest,  conscientious, 
earnest,  men  and  women,  utterly  disgusted  and 
aggrieved  at  the  gross  immorality  of  the  Roman 
hierarchy  in  all  grades  of  rank  and  station.  Who- 
ever exposed  and  denounced  that  immorality  openly 
and   uncompromisingly  was  hailed   by  all   such  as  a 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  377 

God-sent  messenger  of  redemption.  The  same  class 
of  persons  were  ready  to  applaud  and  echo  all  bold 
anathemas  against  the  Papistic  superstitions  concern- 
ing purgatory,  relic-worship,  masses  for  the  dead, 
absolution  of  sin,  indulgences,  etc.  This  element 
produced  a  most  salutary  effect  upon  the  Roman 
communion,  compelling  it  to  adopt  so  much  of 
external  reform  as  should  stop  the  mouths  of 
accusers  and  insure  greater  public  respect.  Its 
moral  standing  was  thus  greatly  improved,  and  it 
has  ever  since  been  growing  more  and  more  cir- 
cumspect, giving  the  larger  Protestant  sects  decreas- 
ing ground  or  occasion  for   boasting  over  it. 

2.  Theological  dogmatists,  able,  ambitious,  com- 
bative, and  indomitable,  such  as  Luther,  Calvin, 
Knox,  and  many  like-spirited  co-adjutors,  constituted 
a  powerful  element  in  promoting  the  Reformation. 
These  dogmatists  were  undoubtedly  conscientious, 
had  a  profound  horror  of  the  Papal  usurpations,  super- 
stitions, and  immoralities,  and  heroically  assailed 
what  they  deemed  false  and  wicked.  But  they  have 
left  on  record  too  many  proofs  of  their  own  popish 
spirit  towards  all  dissenters  from  their  own  author- 
ity, however  sincere  and  upright,  to  command  our 
highest  admiration.  They  insisted  on  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  Scriptures  over  all  ecclesiastical  decrees 
and  traditions,  but  they  must  be  allowed  to  inter- 
pret those  Scriptures,  and  woe  to  him  who  called 
their  interpretations  in  question.  They  stood  man- 
fully for  the  right  of  private  judgment,  as  against 
Pope,  prelate,  and  council,  but  deemed  it  rash, 
impudent,  and  blameworthy,    for  others  to  question 


378  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

or  reject  their  decisions.  They  abhorred  the  Rom- 
ish Inquisition,  but  set  up  petty  ones  of  their  own. 
They  deprecated  persecution  for  opinion's  sake,  but 
deemed  it  proper  to  suppress  heresy  against  the 
the  dogmas  they  themselves  avowed,  not  always 
by  mild  and  harmless  means.  They  detested  the 
Papal  reliance  upon  secular  agencies  to  maintain 
decrees  issued  professedly  in  the  interest  of  public 
order,  yet  they  married  their  Protestantism  to  the 
civil  and  military  authority,  and  trusted  to  its  arm 
of  violence  and  bloodshed  for  protection  to  them- 
selves and  their  church.  All  this  was  natural  con- 
sidering the  times,  their  education,  and  environing 
circumstances.  They  did  their  work,  all  things  con- 
sidered, quite  as  well  as  could  have  been  expected. 
But  their  encomiasts  claim  more  for  their  wisdom 
and  virtue  than  justice  warrants  or  I   can   accord. 

3.  King  Henry  VIII  of  England  played  an 
important  part  in  this  momentous  drama.  At  the 
opening  of  the  Reformation,  he,  as  a  loyal  Papist, 
wrote  against  Luther  in  defence  of  the  dominant 
ecclesiasticism  ;  for  which  the  Pope  conferred  on 
him  and  his  successors  the  title  of  "  Defender  of  the 
Faith."  But  he  was  a  man  of  inordinate  self-will, 
sensuality,  and  ambition,  as  he  was  of  pitiless  cru- 
elty. He  was  six  times  married,  putting  away  one 
wife  after  another,  either  by  divorce  or  more  vio- 
lent and  murderous  methods,  to  gratify  his  fancy, 
his  lust,  or  his  vanity.  When  the  Pope  refused  to 
sanction  the  separation  from  his  first  wife,  Catharine 
of  Aragon,  for  no  fault  of  hers,  he  renounced  alle- 
giance to  the  Romish    potentate,  declared   England 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  379 

to  be  a  Protestant  country,  and  made  himself  the 
head  of  the  national  church  —  pope  of  England, 
in  fact.  Though  he  was  himself  an  unprincipled 
tyrant,  yet  his  break  with  Rome,  no  doubt,  fur- 
nished many  conscientious,  noble  reformers  among 
his  subjects  an  opportunity  to  do  a  great  and 
blessed  work  for  God  and  humanity,  and  bring  in 
a  better  day  to  the  Anglican  communion  and  to 
all  classes  of  people.  Base  and  unworthy  of  com- 
mendation and  eulogy  as  he  was,  he  must  yet  be 
recognized  as  a  factor,  under  divine  providence, 
in  producing  the  change  in  human  history  and  in 
the  Christian  church  wrought  by  the  sixteenth 
century  revolution. 

4.  Kingcraft  was  another  element  or  factor  of 
the  problem  under  notice.  Like  other  crafts  of  a 
like  nature  it  was  subtle,  artful,  argus-eyed  for  its 
own  advantage ;  successful  by  shrewdness  and 
intrigue  to  preserve  and,  if  possible,  increase  power. 
It  was  jealous  of  rivals,  resisted  the  aspiration  of 
dependents,  and  missed  no  opportunity  to  humiliate 
old  enemies.  Europe  was  divided  into  numerous 
sovereignties  and  princedoms,  having  their  respect- 
ive rulers,  who  vied  with  each  other  for  supremacy, 
maintained  their  special  prerogatives, 'and  frequently 
profited  by  each  others  follies  and  misfortunes.  They 
were  ready  to  use  religion,  though  caring  little  for  it, 
to  promote  their  own  interests  and  secure  some 
ambitious  end.  In  the  general  issue  between 
Romanism  and  Protestantism  they  were  each  and 
all  ready  to  favor  whichever  side  they  could  make 
subservient    to    their    own    purpose,   and    so    helped 


S80  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

to  keep  alive  and  intensify  the  agitation  which  con- 
tributed so  largely  to  the  success  of  the  movement 
which  had  in  it  much  of  promise  to  the  church 
and    world. 

5.  But  back  of  and  underneath  these  more  out- 
ward activities,  these  essentially  worldly  auxiliaries 
to  the  cause  of  reform,  there  was  undoubtedly  a 
profound  and  noble  moral  and  spiritual  purpose 
employed,  giving  character  to  the  movement  and 
clothing  it  with  invincible  strength — a  true  love 
of  religious  liberty,  of  righteousness,  of  progress, 
coupled  with  and  inspired  by  an  unwavering  faith 
in  God  and  in  the  verities  of  the  eternal  life.  This 
fact  should  receive  recognition  and  full  credit ; 
for  without  it,  the  agitation  would  have  spent  itself 
in  vain  ;  the  Reformation  would  have  died  away  in 
emptiness  and  imbecility.  It  prospered,  it  went  on 
conquering  and  to  conquer,  because -God  was  in  it; 
because  men  inspired  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  speaking 
and  acting  from  a  deep  sense  of  personal  respon- 
sibility and  in  harmony  with  the  laws  of  divine 
order,  were  its  promoters,  its  champions,  its  masters. 
But  this  element,  though  so  important,  so  essential 
indeed,  may  be  overestimated  —  has  been  over- 
estimated by  enthusiastic  partisan  laudators  of 
the  work  done,  being  regarded  as  the  chief  if  not 
the  only  agency  by  which  it  was  accomplished. 
But  I  am  persuaded  that  it  did  not  play  so  vital 
a  part  as  its  panegyrists  would  have  us  believe. 
A  mixture  of  motive  prompted  and  animated  the 
movement ;  good  and  evil,  disinterestedness  and 
.self-seeking  ambition,  devotion  to  God  and   worldly 


AND   ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  381 

interest  were  strangely  intermingled  in  the  evolu- 
tionary processes  out  of  whose  seething  turbulence 
and   convulsions   the   final   beneficent    results   came. 

And  now  let  us  consider  briefly  the  average  moral 
status  of  Christendom  during  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries.  It  has  been  partially  indicated 
and  illustrated  in  what  I  have  already  said  but 
requires  more  specific  and  definite  elucidation. 
Undoubtedly  it  was  better  than  for  hundreds  of 
years  before.  The  signs  of  promise  which  had 
previously  appeared  in  the  sky  of  time,  as  noted 
in  my  last  discourse,  were  by  no  means  illusory 
and  vain.  A  marked  gain  in  certain  directions  over 
formerly  existing  conditions  had  been  made  and 
changes  for  the  better  in  private  and  public  life, 
in  church  and  state,  were  slowly  but  surely  going 
on  as  time  passed  by.  But  much  of  this  was  super- 
ficial and  formal  rather  than  profound  and  vital ;  and 
there  was  still  a  wide  departure  in  all  departments 
of  society  from  the  primitive  Christian  standard  of 
virtue  and  piety — a  largely  prevailing  disregard  of 
the   perfect   law  of   love   to   God   and   man. 

We  must  make  a  distinction  between  what  may 
be  termed  external,  conventional  morality  and  the 
pure,  radical,  essential  morality  of  the  Christ,  as 
I  have  outlined  it.  The  foul,  gross  licentiousness, 
which  before  the  Reformation  seemed  to  send  up 
to  heaven  its  putrid  exhalations  from  the  highest 
as  well  as  lowest  places  of  both  church  and  state 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Christendom, 
had  been  met  by  the  voice  of  stern  rebuke,  and 
was  either  partially  abated    by  common  consent  as 


382  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

an  intolerable  nuisance  or  driven  from  the  public 
gaze  into  secret  places  and  haunts  of  clandestine 
practice.  The  several  departments  of  the  nominal 
church,  Romish,  Greek,  and  Protestant,  assumed 
the  appearance  of  sanctity  in  this  and  other  respects, 
and  thenceforth,  under  various  salutary  admonitions 
and  chastenings,  continually  improved  in  the  graces 
of  the  Christian  life.  So  much  may  be  granted 
without  forgetting  or  extenuating  the  numerous 
profligacies  and  iniquities  which  here  and  there, 
more  openly  or  secretly,  disgraced  the  Christian 
profession.  For  we  must  go  below  the  surface  in 
order  to  clearly  understand  the  actual  moral  status 
of  the  age  of  which  we  speak.  There  were  certain 
fundamental  characteristics  of  a  moral  and  spiritual 
nature  distinguishing  it,  that  were  naturally  inher- 
ited by  both  Romanists  and  Protestants  from  pre- 
ceding centuries,  of  which  it  becomes  us  in  this 
investigation  to  take  particular  notice. 

I.  A  devoted  attachment  by  both  parties  to  the 
union  of  church  and  state.  With  the  honorable 
exception  of  a  few  persecuted  persons  or  sects  the 
entire  nominal  church  stuck  tenaciously  to  this 
fatal  idolatry.  The  idea  that  religion  could  thrive 
except  under  the  protection  and  in  the  fostering 
care  of  secular  governments,  if  ever  dreamed  of, 
was  almost  universally  scouted  as  impracticable. 
Hence  all  religious  parties  and  classes,  with  the 
exceptions  alluded  to,  formed  the  closest  possible 
alliance  with  such  governments  for  both  offensive 
and  defensive  purposes.  This  involved  a  virtual 
confession  of  moral  and  spiritual  weakness  on  their 


AND   ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  383 

part,  a  practical  reliance  upon  the  scepter,  purse, 
and  sword  as  a  dernier  resort,  and  a  partizanship 
with  that  type  of  religion  which  worldly  govern- 
ments represented — a  sort  of  refined  brutishness. 
So  the  Christianity  of  the  church  was  demoralized  — 
the  Protestant  Church  like  the  Roman  before  it  — 
and  its  Christianity  became  really  a  baptized  bar- 
barism. Its  theology  was  barbaric ;  its  piety  was 
barbaric ;  and  its  morality  partook  of  the  same 
nature  ;  it  was  stern,  imperious,  despotic,  arrogant, 
vindictive. 

2.  The  adoption  of  the  war  system  as  the  final 
arbiter  in  human  affairs  was  another  characteristic 
of  the  centuries  in  review,  and  an  inheritance  from 
the  heathenish  past.  With  the  exception  of  the 
Mennonites,  Quakers,  and  a  few  others,  Protestants 
and  Catholics  alike  adopted  the  utterly  unchristian 
principle  that  "  might  makes  right  "  in  extreme  cases, 
and  made  carnal  weapons  their  fitial  dependence 
instead  of  those  spiritual  ones  **  which  are  mighty 
through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  the  strong- 
holds" of  Satan  and  sin.  The  essential  morality 
of  the  war  system  reverses  the  most  distinguishing 
precepts  of  the  gospel,  and  sanctifies  the  grossest 
violations  of  the  law  of  perfect  love  whenever  seem- 
ing necessity  or  convenience  dictates.  No  wonder 
that  Christendom,  vitiated  by  the  spirit  which  this 
systems  engenders,  nothwithstanding  all  the  boasts 
of  the  friends  of  the  Reformation,  was  full  of  con- 
tention, violence,  wrath,  destructiveness,  inhumanity. 

3.  In  harmony  with  this  adoption  of  the  war  sys- 
tem as    a    means    of    accomplishment,  and    growing 


384  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

out  of  it  in  part,  was  the  widely  prevailing  domi- 
nation of  brute  force,  penal  vengeance,  retaliatory 
legislation,  vindictive  punishments,  and  the  various 
forms  of  persecution  in  behalf  of  religion,  which 
still  continued  to  vex  all  social  and  civil  relations 
and  keep  back  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
in  the  world.  All  the  more  popular  branches  or 
divisions  of  the  church  were  more  or  less  intoxi- 
cated with  this  bloody  wine  of  violence  and  revenge ; 
it  animated  their  lives  and  characters  and  controlled 
their  action,  not  alone  in  their  personal  and  civic 
relations,  but  in  ecclesiastical  and  religious  con- 
cerns. It  stimulated  persecution  for  opinion's  sake 
in  the  breasts  of  Protestant  as  well  as  in  those  of 
Catholic  believers.  It  is  curious  and  instructive  to 
see  how  ready  escaped  victims  of  malice  and  per- 
secution are  to  employ  them  against  dissenters 
from  their  dicta  when  they  get  into  power.  Thus 
the  Puritans  of  New  England  made  haste  in  their 
wilderness  home  not  only  to  whip  and  hang  alleged 
wizards  and  witches  but  to  ostracise  and  exter- 
minate innocent  but  independent  Baptists  and  Quak- 
ers. This  was  but  a  slight  echo  of  the  disabilities 
and  cruelties  perpetrated  in  the  old  world  by  reli- 
gionists in  power  upon  their  dissenting  co-religion- 
ists. Men  palliate  these  atrocities  sometimes  by 
attributing  them  to  "the  spirit  of  the  age."  The 
allegation  is  true.  But  it  would  be  truer  to  attri- 
bute them  to  the  spirit  of  that  corrupt  and  bar- 
baric Christianity  which  was  the  orthodoxy  of  that 
age.  With  such  notions  of  God,  Christ,  salvation, 
atonement,  and  retribution  as  then   reigned   in   most 


AND   ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  385 

religious  circles,  persecution  was  both  natural  and 
meritorious.  It  was  Godlike.  *'  If  God  consigns 
heretics  to  endless  torture  in  the  world  to  come," 
said  Queen  Mary,  *'  why  should  not  I,  as  a  servant 
of  God,  administer  like  punishment  to  them,  so  far 
as  I  can,  in  this  world?"  And  the  reasoning  was 
as  good  for  Protestants  as  for  Catholics,  and  they 
acted  by  it.  Why  should  they  possess,  the  power 
of  authority  and  punishment  and  not  use  it  to 
maintain  the  true  religion  ;  to  put  down  heresy, 
infidelity,  and  agnosticism  ? 

So  in  civil  affairs.  What  is  civil  government  for, 
if  not  to  compel  the  wayward  and  wicked  to  behave  ; 
to  repress  crime  by  the  strong  arm  ;  to  subject  the 
guilty  to  penal  vengeance  even  unto  death  ;  and  thus 
maintain  the  dignity  of  the  law,  and  the  divinity  of 
the  magistracy!  The  just  doctrine  that  civil  gov- 
ernment in  its  relation  to  evil  doers  should  be  con- 
fined to  the  salutary  restraint  of  those  that  were 
dangerous,  and  to  the  kindly  elevation  and  reform 
of  all  classes  of  them  by  moral  and  religious  agen- 
cies, now  just  beginning  to  be  apprehended  by 
humane  men  and  women  and  to  influence  legislation 
and  jurisprudence,  was  scarcely  dreamed  of  in  those 
days.  The  Christianity  of  the  churches  had  not 
risen  to  that  level  and  we  must  estimate  and  judge 
it  accordingly. 

4.  A  glance  at  the  Jesuits  and  their  theories  and 
conduct  is  needful  to  a  just  apprehension  of  the 
morality  of  the  centuries  in  review  ;  such  power 
had  they  over  the  fortunes  of  Christendom.  In 
the  early  days   of    the    Reformation    arose    Ignatius 


386  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

Loyola,  a  most  remarkable  man  and  an  intense  devotee 
of  the  Church  of  Rome.  That  church  needed  such 
a  man  to  revive  its  waning  power  and  put  new  life 
into  its  devitalized  energies.  And  this  he  did ; 
chiefly  by  founding  the  famous  order  of  the  Jesuits, 
the  most  intelligent,  enterprising,  politic,  indomita- 
ble, successful  society  that  ever  served  the  Papal 
or  any  other  hierarchy.  These  sectarists  grew 
rapidly  in  numbers  and  in  influence,  becoming  at 
length,  despite  all  opposition,  innumerable  obstacles, 
and  even  the  antagonism  at  tiuies  of  the  Pope 
himself,  the  very  brain,  the  nervous  tissue,  the 
ruling  soul  of  the  Catholic  branch  of  the  church; 
"the  power  behind  the  throne  mightier  than  the 
throne."  What  was  the  morality  of  this  command- 
ing order.'*  It  may  be  summed  up  in  the  maxim, 
"The  end  sanctifies  the  means";  that  is,  a  good 
object  makes  all  means  of  success,  however  repre- 
hensible in  themselves,  justifiable.  The  Jesuits  did 
not  originate  this  pernicious  doctrine,  for  men  had 
announced  and  acted  upon  it  before.  But  they 
formally  adopted  and  magnified  it,  making  it  the 
basis  of  their  organic  life.  They  did  not  monopo- 
lize it,  for  it  has  been  made  the  rule  of  conduct 
by  many  successful  leaders  in  church  and  state, 
and  by  sectarians  and  partizans  in  all  ages  ;  our 
own  not  excepted.  But  before  all  others  the  Jesuits 
have  proved  themselves  masters  of  it. 

Starting  with  the  assumption  that  the  Roman 
was  the  only  true  church  and  that  with  the  Pope 
at  its  head  it  is  absolutely  infallible,  it  followed  that 
to  obey  it,   maintain   it,  promote  its  prosperity,   was 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  387 

their  supreme  duty  ;  and  this  was  to  be  done  by 
whatsoever  means,  good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  they 
could  command.  The  object  in  view  made  them 
all  holy  and  justifiable.  On  this  principle  and  to 
this  end  they  labored — -labored  diligently  and  suc- 
cessfully. They  employed  every  agency  in  their 
power  to  accomplish  their  purpose  as  servants  of 
the  Romish  Church  ;  cunning,  deceit,  perjury,  trea- 
son, murder,  war, — all  could  be  made  subservient 
to  their  will  and  used  as  occasion  or  opportunity 
might  allow.  The  grossest  offences  were  pardona- 
ble if  they  contributed  to  the  end  in  view,  and  suc- 
cessful iniquity  was  a  virtue.  On  these  lines  they 
wrought  —  wrought  with  a  persistency  and  a  will 
only  surpassed  by  their  consummate  skill.  They 
became  all  things  to  all  men  ;  in  king's  houses  and 
the  hovels  of  the  peasantry  ;  in  institutions  of  learn- 
ing and  among  the  ignorant  multitude  ;  with  friends 
and  with  enemies ;  in  every  land  and  country  to 
which  they  had  access.  They  were  ubiquitous  in 
their  activities  and  adepts  at  every  art  that  could 
serve  their  cause.  In  every  sphere  of  religion, 
politics,  and  social  life,  they  plied,  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  their  special  trade.  They  had  no  moral 
principle  at  heart,  but  were  governed  by  a  crafty 
expediency  that  never  failed  them  in  any  stress  to 
which  they  were  brought.  Maintaining  an  outward 
appearance  of  respectability  and  of  professional 
virtue  and  piety,  they  were  the  secret  plotters  and 
abettors  of  innumerable  deeds  of  darkness  and 
shame,  of  bitter  persecutions  and  sanguinary  bat- 
tles.     Their  interior  and  basic   morality  in   fine  was 


388  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

the  most  anti-Christian  that  ever  vitiated  human 
character  or  displayed  itself  on  the  arena  of  human 
history.  And  yet  it  dominated  the  Roman  Church, 
entered  more  or  less  into  the  practice  of  Protes- 
tantdom,  and  exerted  a  widely  extended  sway  in 
all  the  complex  ranks  and  circles  of  society. 

But  while  the  moral  status  of  Christendom  was 
on  the  average  what  I  have  represented  —  still  far 
below  that  of  the  New  Testament  —  in  many  marked 
respects  odious  and  deplorable,  it  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  the  eternal  divine  providence  did  not 
leave  it  without  a  powerful  countercheck  and  cor- 
rective in  the  wonderful  intellectual  development 
which  was  all  the  while  going  on  throughout  the 
civilized  world.  This  was  in  a  large  measure  inde- 
pendent of  the  prevailing  religious  activity,  though 
in  no  wise  hostile  to  it.  It  antedated  the  Reforma- 
tion, pervaded  it,  outgrew  it  to  a  large  extent, 
becoming  at  length  its  sharp-eyed  censor,  challeng- 
ing all  forms  of  religious  assumption  on  its  part, 
as  well  as  on  the  part  of  the  Catholic  hierarchy, 
and  bringing  all  claims,  theories,  dogmas,  of  a 
religious  nature,  to  the  test  of  enlightened  reason 
and  a  sound  judgment.  Science,  literature,  philoso- 
phy, independent  thought,  free  inquiry,  controver- 
sial discussion,  engaged  the  public  mind  and  received 
constantly  increasing  consideration.  Much  of  all 
this,  to  be  sure,  was  crude,  wild,  erratic,  superficial, 
and  inconclusive,  but  it  was  frank,  courageous, 
often  audacious  and  defiant  towards  religion,  which 
vainly  attempted  to  overawe  it  and  terrify  it  into 
deferential    modesty.      As    in    later    days    a   conflict 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  389 

arose  and  was  carried  on  vigorously  between  the 
religious  forces  of  the  age  and  the  intellectual  — 
between  ecclesiastical  assumption  and  free  thought. 
Religion  was  characterized  by  falsities,  superstitions, 
absurdities,  and  incongruities,  which  were  an  offence 
to  the  enlightened  understanding  on  the  one  hand, 
while  on  the  other  the  intellectual  department  of 
life  became  conceited,  egotistical,  self-deific ;  not 
infrequently  scornful  and  arrogant  towards  all  forms 
of  faith  and  piety,  counting  them  all  worthy  only 
of  execration.  There  could  be  no  afifinity  between 
the  two  ;  only  warfare  when  they  came  in  contact 
with  each  other.  And  this  warfare  was  necessary 
in  the  nature  of  things  to  purge  away  the  dross 
and  excrescences  of  both  parties  engaged  in  it.  And 
this  was  done  to  some  extent,  especially  on  the 
side  of  religion.  Not  that  the  intellect  was  itself 
blameless  and  exemplary;  not  that  it  had  the  virtue 
or  the  wisdom  to  establish  pure  Christianity  among 
men  ;  not  that  it  was  free  from  many  of  the  vices 
it  exposed  to  public  gaze  and  denounced  ;  but 
because  it  was  the  natural,  God-appointed  critic  of 
all  falsehood  and  pretension  —  the  arbiter  between 
truth  and  error,  fact  and  fiction,  in  all  departments 
of  human  activity  and  responsibility.  Before  its 
judgment  seat  religious  superstition,  assumption, 
bigotry,  and  tyranny  could  be  justly  arraigned, 
condemned,  made  hateful  in  the  sight  of  all  fair- 
minded  men,  and  religion  itself  be  made  to  correct 
itself,  in  some  measure,  of  its  most  offensive  and 
reprehensible  characteristics. 


390  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

The  distinctive  features  of  the  disagreeable  but  on 
the  whole  salutary  conflict  thus  inaugurated  were 
brought  to  notice  most  clearly  in  the  literary,  social, 
political,  and  religious  commotions  and  upheavals 
of  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  New 
sects  sprung  up  in  the  church  under  bold  polemic 
leaders  ;  new  political  theories  were  promulgated  in 
civil  society,  producing  revolutionary  movements 
that  reversed  in  some  cases  the  currents  of  history, 
as  in  the  United  States  and  France  ;  liberty  became 
the  popular  watchword  in  both  civic  and  ecclesias- 
tic affairs,  and  a  multitude  of  panaceas  for  human 
ills  were  devised  and  proclaimed  far  and  wide 
among  men.  A  new  ardor  of  philanthropy  and 
humanitarianism  was  evoked,  while  skepticism  and 
nothingarianism  rose  to  greater  prominence  than 
ever  before,  and  multitudes,  under  one  or  another 
sanction  or  pretext,  broke  away  from  the  exactions 
and  restraints  of  the  church  altogether.  The  gen- 
eral tendency  of  all  this  was  to  weaken  the  union 
of  church  and  state,  make  persecution  and  pro- 
scription for  opinion's  sake  more  unpopular  and 
assume  milder  forms,  and  give  the  liberal,  progres- 
sive spirit  in  all  human  concerns  wider  range  and 
a  larger  empire.  The  tide  thus  put  in  motion  has 
continued  to  increase  in  volume  and  in  power  ever 
since  and  will  continue  to  roll  on,  no  doubt,  till 
everything  in  nominal  Christianity  hostile  to  the 
primitive  Gospel  shall  have  been  eliminated  and 
cast  as  rubbish  to  the  void  —  till  religion  as  the 
supreme  concern  of  humanity  shall  be  conformed  to 
the  dictates  of  pure  reason,  and  reason   baptized  with 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  391 

the  spirit  of  the  Nazarene,  shall  be  in  harmony  with 
pure  religion,  and  both  as  counterparts  and  helpers 
of  each  other  shall  co-operate  with  assurance  of  ulti- 
mate success  for  the  redemption  of  humanity,  the 
triumph  of  divine  truth,  and  the  establishment  of 
the  kingxlom  of  God  on  the  earth.  And  may  we 
all  be  fellow-laborers  together  to  the  same  great 
and  blissful  consummation. 


DISCOURSE    XXVII. 

THE     PREVAILING     MORALITY    OF    CHRISTENDOM 
IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 

"  Thou  sayest,  I  am  rich  and  increased  with  goods  and  have 
need  of  nothing ;  and  knowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched  and 
miserable  and  poor  and  blind  and  naked:  I  counsel  thee  to 
buy  of  me  gold  tried  in  the  fire  that  thou  mayst  be  rich 
and  white  raiment  that  thou  mayst  be  clothed,  and  that  the 
shame  of  thy  nakedness  do  not  appear;  and  anoint  thine  eyes 
with  eye-salve  that  thou  mayst  see.  As  many  as  I  love,  I 
rebuke  and  chasten;  Be  zealous  therefore  and  repent."  — 
Rev.  iii.   17-19. 

The  moral  and  spiritual  advance  and  attainment 
of  the  nineteenth  century  are  highly  extolled  by 
sanguine  progressives  and  equally  disparaged  by  a 
few  extreme  conservatives.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
of  very  great  improvement  over  past  centuries  in  the 
intellectual  realm  of  life  and  in  whatever  pertains 
to  the  outward,  physical  circumstances  and  condi- 
tion of  the  masses  of  mankind.  This  is  obvious 
in  the  exact  sciences,  the  practical  arts,  financial 
resources ;  in  the  comforts  and  luxuries  that  may 
be  enjoyed  ;  in  modes  of  travel  and  national  inter- 
communication ;  in  political  ideas  and  governmental 
policies  ;  in  education  and  its  multiplied  institutions 
and  methods ;  in  literature  and  aesthetic  accom- 
plishments ;  and  generally  in  all  the  more  external 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY.  393 

features  and  elements  of  what  is  termed  civilization. 
Corresponding  improvement  may  be  seen  in  the 
modifications  that  have  taken  place  in  the  religious 
world  —  the  subsidence  of  the  dogmatic  spirit,  the 
abandonment  or  toning  down  of  old  creeds  and 
confessions,  and  the  more  catholic  and  kindly  atti- 
tude of  differing  sects  and  parties  towards  each 
other.  The  harsher  theological  doctrines,  the  bitterer 
ecclesiastical  warfares,  the  more  rigid  exactions  of 
formal  piety  have  been  softened  most  perceptibly 
but  by  no  means  wholly  abandoned.  All  these 
things  are  tokens  of  progress  ;  good  as  far  as  they 
go  and  worthy  of  note  and  commendation. 

And  in  respect  to  the  prevailing  morality,  with 
which  we  are  more  immediately  concerned,  careful 
observation  shows  that  it  has  become  in  its  external 
aspects  more  decorous,  kindly,  hospitable ;  that  in 
the  particular  phase  of  it  which  relates  to  the 
humanitary  side  of  life,  and  which  expresses  itself 
in  institutions  and  works  of  benevolence  and  charity, 
and  in  fraternal,  sympathetic  feelings  towards  all 
classes  and  conditions  of  people,  of  whatsoever 
rank,  color,  or  nationality,  there  is  great  change 
for  the  better  over  preceding  centuries.  And  yet 
it  is  to  be  noted  that  much  of  what  is  deemed 
refinement,  benignity,  charitableness,  is  a  super- 
ficial matter  —  mere  good  nature,  constitutional  amia- 
bility, quiescent  complacency  ;  having  no  deep  root 
in  the  moral  sense  and  possessing  no  essential  value 
or  commanding  influence  as  an  element  or  force  of 
character ;  and  that  the  more  active  spirit  of  phi- 
lanthropy and    good   will    to  all     men    is    limited    to 


394  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

a  comparatively  small  portion  of  the  population, 
though,  without  doubt,  it  magnetizes  more  or  less 
multitudes  of  others  and  raises  the  average  moral 
status  of  the  community  at  large  and  of  the  world 
as  a  whole  to  a  higher  level.  There  can  be  no 
question  but  that  progress  is  the  law  and  condition 
of  humanity  on  the  earth,  nor  that  ample  evidences 
of  it  are  manifest  in  the  present  day  and  genera- 
tion, as  in   those  gone  by. 

At  the  same  time  it  would  be  untruthfulness  to 
the  facts  of  the  case  —  an  act  of  moral  folly  and 
blindness  —  not  to  declare  openly  and  unqualifiedly 
that  there  is  much  in  modern  life  —  in  what  is 
termed  civilization  —  that  is  vicious,  base,  corrupt, 
most  reprehensible.  And  this  is  true  not  simply 
of  ignorant,  degraded  heathendom  but  of  the  most 
advanced,  enlightened,  professedly  Christian  lands 
and  peoples.  There  is  still  wide  divorce  between 
the  general  morality  of  Christendom  even  and  that 
of  the  unperverted  Gospel  of  Christ  ;  and  still  is 
there  occasion  for  the  reproof,  admonition,  and 
exhortation  so  impressively  embodied  in  the  pas- 
sage from  the  utterances  of  the  Seer  of  Patmos 
taken  for  a  text.  This  will  appear  from  a  few 
demonstrative  considerations  to  which  I  wish  to 
call  special  attention. 

I.  The  prevalent  morality  of  the  nominal  Chris- 
tian world  is  in  a  large  degree  indefinite,  elastic, 
vacillating,  time-serving,  conventional.  It  is  not  a 
morality  of  principle,  having  a  basis  in  the  laws  of 
eternal  righteousness,  and  imposing  upon  men  inde- 
feasible   and    uncscapable    obligations    to    duty    and 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  396- 

fidelity  in  all  the  conduct  and  in  every  relation  of 
life.  It  lacks  nerve,  fiber,  strength,  persistency;  the 
heroic,  kingly  element.  It  is  characterized  by  vague 
generalities,  and  glittering  sophisms,  and  sentimental 
platitudes,  and  easy-going  virtues  of  various  sort. 
It  rests  on  temporary  expediency,  on  speculative 
utility,  on  respectable  and  refined  selfishness.  It 
is  much  given  to  compromise,  to  diplomacy,  to 
shrewd  calculation  and  artful  management.  It  mag- 
nifies the  sublime,  positive,  stringent  precepts  of 
the  Master  it  professedly  follows,  through  the 
pulpit,  through  ethical  orators  and  authors,  through 
general  literature  and  the  public  press,  but  is  alas 
often  ready  to  modify  them,  qualify  them,  accom- 
modate them  to  the  pride,  selfishness,  ambition,  and 
revengeful  purposes  of  men,  and  to  the  sectarian 
and  partizan  designs  of  religious  zealots  and  politi- 
cal managers,  or  to  ignore  them  altogether  in  the 
varied  affairs  of  life. 

Take  for  instance  a  few  of  the  most  positive  and 
obligatory  of  those  precepts  —  those  that  most  dis- 
tinguish Christianity  from  all  other  religions  —  and 
reflect  how  little  they  enter  into  the  character  and 
dominate  the  conduct  of  men  ;  how  often  they  are 
stigmatized  and  derided  even  as  visionary,  fanciful, 
Utopian,  impracticable ;  as  suited  to  some  other 
world,  or  far-off  millennial  age,  but  not  to  the  world 
or  age  in  which  our  present  lot  is  cast.  '*  He  that 
is  greatest  among  you  shall  be  your  servant."  "Who- 
soever humbleth  himself  as  a  little  child,  the  same 
is  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  "  Blessed 
are  the  meek."     "Blessed  are  the  merciful."     "  J^e- 


396 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 


ware  of  covetousness."  '*  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
mammon."  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thy- 
self." "Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do 
unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them."  "  Love  your 
enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  unto 
them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  that  despite- 
fully  use  you  and  persecute  you  ;  that  ye  may  be 
the  children  of  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 
"  Put  up  thy  sword  into  its  place,  for  all  that  take 
the  sword  shall  perish  by  the  sword."  "Take  my 
yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  me."  "The  son  of 
man  is  not  come  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to 
save  them."  "  If  ye  forgive  men  their  trespasses, 
your  heavenly  Father  shall  also  forgive  you."  "Why 
call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  that 
I  say.?"  "Whosoever  doth  not  bear  his  cross  and 
come  after  me  cannot  be  my  disciple." 

The  meaning  of  these  and  other  precepts  of  simi- 
lar nature  and  spirit  is  obvious  and  unmistakable. 
If  there  were  the  least  chance  for  doubt,  it  all 
would  be  made  clear  by  the  life  and  example  of 
their  author.  And  if  his  nominal  Church  did  but 
observe  and  illustrate  them,  it  would  indeed  be 
"the  salt  of  the  earth"  and  "the  light  of  the  world," 
and  mankind  would  be  hastened  forward  rapidly 
unto  the  day  of  their  redemption.  But  unfortu 
nately  its  leaders  solemnly  repeat  these  transcend- 
ent sayings  and  then  proceed  to  treat  them  as  if 
they  were  only  vague  and  glittering  generalities,  to 
explain  away  their  evident  meaning  as  their  author 
intended  it  and  as  his  immediate  disciples  and  early 
apostles  understood  it,  to  accommodate  them  to  the 


AND   ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  397 

selfish  ambitions  of  men,  to  the  mammonism  of  the 
age,  to  the  popular  tastes  and  fashions,  to  the  exist- 
ing unfraternal  relations  of  human  society,  to  the 
manipulations  and  intrigues  of  political  life,  to  the 
assumptions  and  unchristian  policies  of  civil  govern- 
ment, to  the  demoralizing  conventionalities  and 
respectabilities  of  existing  civilization.  And  in  this 
perversion  and  abuse  of  the  primitive  Gospel  of 
Christ,  all  parties  and  sects  in  the  church  are 
co-ordinate  actors  and  fellow-helpers,  with  a  few 
notable  and  honorable  exceptions.  And  so  by  this 
adulterating  and  compromising  course  the  church 
gains  more  rich  and  sumptous  members  to  its  sup- 
port, more  unscrupulous  devotees,  more  rulers  of 
this  world,  more  military  chieftains,  more  respecta- 
bility among  the  multitude,  but  at  the  same  time 
a  corresponding  loss  of  power  to  uplift  and  save 
men,  to  regenerate  human  society  and  bring  in  the 
divine  kingdom.  It  can  have  splendid  sanctuaries, 
costly  choirs,  rituals,  and  other  appendages  of  wor- 
ship, multiform  and  attractive  instrumentalities  for 
converting  the  world,  which,  alas,  if  converted, 
would  be  in  essential  respects  the  same  selfish, 
proud,  mammon-serving,  war-making,  blood-shedding 
world  as  before  —  the  average  genuine  morality  of 
it  raised  scarcely  an  iota  above  its  present  level, 
scarcely  one  degree  nearer  the  pure  morality  of 
Primitive  Christianity. 

2.  It  is  instructive  as  it  is  striking  to  note  that 
the  morality  of  nominal  Christendom  outside  of 
what  may  be  termed  ecclesiastical  exemplarincss  is 
not    only  much    the    same    in    all    divisions    of    the 


398  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

church,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  (with  the  multi- 
tudinous subdivisions  of  the  latter),  but  is  little  if 
any  higher  than  that  of  the  great  company  of  the 
unchurched.  By  ecclesiastical  exemplariness  (a 
designation  of  my  own  devising)  I  mean  that 
sort  of  religious  deportment  which  each  denomina- 
tion or  sect  exacts  of  its  members  in  order  to  be 
**  in  good  and  regular  standing."  Much  of  this 
exists  in  external  pietism,  ceremonial  observance, 
conformity  to  established  customs,  and  is  of  the 
nature  of  disciplinary  drill  service,  which  must  be 
decently  regarded  in  order  not  to  lose  caste  and 
be  on  terms  of  good  fellowship.  Thus  Sabbath- 
keeping,  attendance  upon  public  worship,  participa- 
tion in  the  ordinances,  in  the  forms  and  attitudes 
of  devotion,  paying  tribute  for  the  support  of 
denominational  activities,  the  avoidance  of  prac- 
tices deemed  improper  or  scandalous  —  these  things 
in  the  average  church  of  our  day  constitute  what 
I  call  ecclesiastical  exemplariness.  Now  much  of 
this  external  and  ceremonial  service,  though  counted 
■oftentimes  for  righteousness,  however  valuable  in 
its  way  as  helpful  to  a  better  life,  is  no  part  of 
character;  is  not  of  the  nature  of  actual  morality, 
strictly  so  called,  and  has  no  spiritual  value  what- 
ever in  itself  considered.  It  may  be  a  means  of 
promoting  pure  morality  if  sincerely  and  conscien- 
tiously used  to  that  end.  Otherwise,  it  may  be 
but  a  dry  and  innutritions  husk,  or,  like  the  drill 
of  an  army,  a  disciplinary  exercise  essential  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  organization  exacting  it  ;  it  may 
be   but    a    mask    of    pretended  virtue  and  piety  —  a 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  399 

snare  and  a  cheat  to  the  soul.  Thus  one  may 
observe  all  holy  sacraments  and  go  through  all  the 
exercises  and  motions  required  by  any  given  eccle- 
siastical order,  and  yet  be  thoroughly  worldly  and 
selfish  and  even  brutal  in  spirit  and  in  conduct  ; 
covetous  and  extortionate,  morose,  haughty,  and 
tyrannical,  heartless,  cruel,  and  vindictive,  given  to 
sharp  practices,  deceits,  and  unjust  transactions 
with  his  fellow  men.  I  therefore  leave  mere  eccle- 
siastical exemplariness  for  what  it  may  be  really 
worth  as  determined  by  its  results  in  improving 
human  character  and  uplifting  human  life  ;  assert- 
ing simply  that,  aside  from  this,  the  solid,  vyell 
grounded,  trustworthy,  abiding  morality  of  Chris- 
tendom is  much  the  same  in  all  divisions  and  sub- 
divisions of  the  nominal  church  and  in  no  marked 
degree  higher  than  than  that  of  the  outside  world. 
Why  should  it  be  }  For,  as  before  stated,  it  is 
gauged  on  every  side  by  the  same  standards  that 
determine  the  ethical  code  of  current  civilization 
and  is  co-ordinated  with  that  worldly  expediency  and 
calculating  policy  which  play  such  a  controlling 
part  in  the  great  drama  of  social  and  civil  life,  in 
all  communities,  states,  and  nations,  the  wide  world 
over.  The  standing  policy  of  the  church  as  a 
whole,  though  we  find  a  few  rare  exceptions,  seems 
to  be  to  keep  abreast  of  the  morality  of  the  estab- 
lished civil  order  as  represented  in  its  legislation 
and  jurisprudence,  but  not  to  outrun  it  to  any 
noticeable  extent.  This  was  illustrated  in  the  his- 
tory of  those  great  reforms  whicli  abolished  the 
infamous  slave-trade,  chattel   shivery  itself,  and   serf- 


400  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

dom  in  the  old  world,  and  the  two  former  in  our 
own  country.  So  long  as  the  laws  of  the  land  and 
executive  and  judicial  authorities  based  upon  them 
sanctioned  and  upheld  those  great  abominations^ 
agitations  for  their  overthrow  were  commenced 
and  carried  forward  by  philanthropic  parties  either 
wholly  outside  the  church  or  independent  of  eccle- 
siastical organizations.  But  no  sooner  had  these 
parties  so  informed  the  public  mind  and  aroused 
the  pu1)lic  conscience  that  the  political  mechanism 
began  to  be  affected  thereby,  and  that  state  action 
began  to  take  place,  than  the  great  ecclesiastical 
bodies  awoke  from  their  drowsiness,  girt  themselves 
about  with  weapons  of  warfare,  entered  the  field 
of  conflict  and  shared  with  the  noble  company  of 
original  reformers  the  honors  of  the  final  victory. 
Some  of  those  bodies  were  so  ignorant  of  the  facts 
of  the  case  or  so  blinded  by  the  smoke  of  battle, 
or  so  warped  in  moral  judgment  by  prejudice  and 
sectarian  conceit,  that  they  thought  themselves  the 
only  or  the  chief  combatants  on  the  field  and  that 
to  them  chiefly  if  not  wholly  was  the  triumph  due. 
And  this  brings  me  to  another  point  in  this  inves- 
tigation not  to  be  overlooked. 

3.  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  virtual  union 
which  still  exists  between  church  and  state,  or  the 
relation  of  the  morality  of  the  present  century  to 
the  civil  government  of  the  several  nations  of  the 
earth.  This  formerly  existing  organic  union  of 
the  ecclesiastical  and  political  powers  of  different 
countries  has  been  greatly  modified  and  in  some 
instances  entirely  dissolved  by  the  augmenting  force 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  401 

of  rational  inquiry  and  an  intelligent  understanding 
joined  to  the  increasing  demand  for  civil  and  reli- 
gious liberty  among  the  foremost  peoples  of  the 
earth.  The  profession  and  boast  in  our  own  land 
is  that  we  have  made  an  entire  separation  of  the 
two  and  placed  religion  and  the  morality  associated 
with  it  on  a  purely  voluntary  basis  of  support. 
And  yet  nearly  all  our  religious  societies  and  insti- 
tutions are  incorporated  under  governmental  author- 
ity, thus  securing  the  privilege  of  calling  to  their  aid, 
if  deemed  needful  or  desirable,  the  arm  of  the  law 
and  even  of  the  penal  and  military  force  lying 
back  of  it,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  their 
revenues,  resisting  unjust  exactions,  and  carrying 
into  effect  such  measures  as  they  may  adopt  for 
the  promotion  of  the  objects  they  desire  to  accom- 
plish. It  is  curious  to  see  how  large  a  proportion 
of  our  religious  leaders,  special  reformers,  and  phi- 
lanthropists in  general,  even  those  of  high  profes- 
sion, beginning  whatever  work  of  renewal,  uplifting, 
and  purification  they  undertake  with  rational  and 
persuasive  appeals  to  the  understandings,  the  con- 
sciences, and  all  the  higher  sentiments  of  human 
nature,  sooner  or  later  fall  into  the  notion  that 
very  considerable  reliance  must  be  placed  u[)on 
political  methods  and  legislative  enactments  for  the 
consummation  of  their  plans  and  projects,  and  pro- 
ceed to  act  accordingly.  They  sometimes  assume 
the  role  of  advisers,  censors,  and  directors  of  the 
civil  administration  of  affairs,  laboring  to  secure 
such  laws,  such  decisions  of  the  courts,  such  use 
of    the  scepter  of    state  and  of    executive  power  as 


402  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY. 

they  judge  necessary  to  remove  the  evil  they 
denounce  and  to  establish  the  righteousness  they 
would  build  up  among  men.  And  if  they  do  not 
succeed  to  their  minds  in  this  attitude  of  counsel- 
lor and  admonitor,  they  enter  actively  into  the 
arena  of  political  wrangling  and  strife,  trying  their 
hand  at  forming  or  manipulating  parties,  at  con- 
trolling conventions  and  building  platforms,  at  the 
various  devices  of  shrewdness  and  chicanery  which 
are  so  much  the  stock  in  trade  of  politicians  and 
aspirants  for  place  and  power  in  these  days,  in 
order  that  they  may  the  more  effectually  secure 
the  ends  they  have  in  view  ;  in  order  that  they 
may  make  the  state  their  partner  and  their  backer 
in  their  various  undertakings.  They  do  not  seem 
to  suspect  that  the  principle  upon  which  they  act 
is  essentially  the  same  as  that  which  underlies  all 
forms  of  church  and  state  union  ;  a  principle  which 
makes  the  church  practically  subservient  to  the  state  ; 
involving,  as  it  does,  a  confession  of  inability  on  the 
part  of  the  church  to  carry  on  its  own  work  in 
its  own  way  to  a  finally  successful  issue,  and  of 
the  necessity  of  relying  upon  outside  aid  —  the 
strong  arm  of  civil  authority  and  governmental 
power  to  accomplish  the  objects  for  the  promotion 
of  which  it  claims  to  have  been  divinely  established 
and  ordained.  This  is  abandoning  the  means  and 
methods  which  Jesus  universally  employed  in  his 
time  to  advance  his  cause  and  kingdom  ;  it  is  sur- 
rendering spiritual  weapons  in  the  warfare  with  the 
world  the  flesh  and  the  devil  for  carnal  ones  ;  it 
is  putting  the  morality  which   the  church  claims  to 


AND    ITS    COKRUPTIONS.  403 

represent  largely  into  the  keeping  of  political  man- 
agers, partizan  leaders,  ambitious  office-seekers,  who 
naturally  and  inevitably  pervert  and  corrupt  it.  In 
this  way  the  average  morality  of  the  nineteenth 
century  is  simply  the  morality  of  such  unscrupulous 
and  often  notoriously  vicious  manipulators,  and  of 
necessity  is  far  below  that  of  the  perfect  Nazarene. 
4.  We  will  now  glance  at  the  morality  of  Chris- 
tendom in  the  present  age  as  represented  in  reli- 
gious persecution,  in  vindictive  penalties  for  crime, 
and  in  the  continued  war  system  of  the  world. 
The  first  of  these  has  been  so  cowered  and  crippled 
by  opposing  influences  —  by  the  growing  intelli- 
gence of  mankind  and  the  triumph  of  free  and 
untrammeled  thought,  and  so  softened  by  the  increas- 
ing humanity  and  catholicity  which  enter  into  all 
departments  of  human  life,  that  it  ventures  to  raise 
its  cobra  head  only  here  and  there  for  a  moment 
in  the  more  benighted  portions  of  the  earth. 
Nevertheless,  its  venomous  spirit  still  lives  and 
would  repeat  in  some  directions  its  old  cruelties,  if 
it  dared.  But  it  is  generally  content  to  appear  in 
milder  forms  than  in  other  days  ;  in  the  form  of 
excommunication,  proscription,  denunciation, —  some- 
times of  misrepresentation,  calumny,  and  abuse. 
Bigotry  is  not  wholly  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  claims 
to  the  exclusive  favor  of  God  and  privileges  of 
heaven  are  still  sometimes  heard.  The  Catholic 
Church  still  regards  the  Protestant  as  a  deplorable 
if  not  damnable  heresiarch,  and  from  time  to  time 
presents  overtures  for  its  return  to  its  own  bosom 
that  it   may  find    there    safety,  peace,  and    blessed- 


404  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY- 

ness.  The  older  Protestant  denominations,  though 
becoming  more  tolerant  and  courteous  towards  the 
more  liberal  ones,  are  hardly  ready  to  grant  them 
the  Christian  name  and  allow  that  they  have  an 
equal  chance  with  themselves  to  an  inheritance  with 
the  sanctified  on  high.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
time  is  not  yet  very  near  at  hand  when  the  Saviour's 
prayer,  ''that  they  all  may  be  one;  as  thou  Father 
art  in  me  and  I  in  thee  that  they  may  be  one  in 
us,"  will  be  fully  answered. 

As  to  unmerciful,  vindictive,  and  brutal  punish- 
ments, I  am  happy  to  say  that  they  have  been 
much  decreased  in  number  and  much  lessened  in 
barbarity  since  the  century  began.  Indeed,  in 
most  civilized  lands  they  have  been  almost  wholly 
divested  of  deliberate  and  needless  torture.  Public 
sentiment  in  general  leans  towards  mercy  in  the 
punishment  of  criminals,  sometimes  perhaps  towards 
laxity,  if  they  be  fashionable,  wealthy,  influential 
ones.  Much  more  attention  is  paid  of  late  years 
to  the  prevention  of  vice  and  crime  than  formerly, 
and  to  the  reformation  of  those  guilty  of  offences 
against  the  public  welfare,  and  more  interest  is 
taken  in  discharged  convicts  and  those  desirous  of 
reform,  to  have  them  placed  under  salutary  influ- 
ences and  helped  to  a  better  life.  Nevertheless, 
there  yet  remains  in  the  community  a  vast  amount 
of  vindictiveness  towards  the  law-breaking  classes, 
and  the  guillotine,  the  gallows,  and  the  electro- 
cutor's  chair  still  drip  with  the  blood  of  those 
slaughtered  under  the  statute  by  man's  inhumanity 
to    man.     The    great    majority  of    people    have  not 


AND   ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  405 

yet  learned  that  Satan  cannot  cast  out  Satan  ;  that 
evil  can  be  overcome  only  by  good.  Large  num- 
bers go  armed  with  deadly  weapons,  prepared  to 
act  upon  the  principle  of  "an  eye  for  an  eye  and 
a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  wounding  for  wounding  and 
blow  for  blow,"  though  Christ's  commands  posi- 
tively forbid  doing  so ;  and  lynch-law  brutalities 
and  race  quarrels  and  assassinations  are  not  infre- 
quent in  divers  sections  of  our  own  land. 

War,  as  a  means  of  redressing  grievances,  settling 
difficulties,  and  dealing  with  enemies  generally,  has 
become  less  frequent,  is  better  regulated,  and,  in 
certain  respects,  is  not  so  virulent  and  savage  as 
formerly.  But  it  has  not  been  renounced  or  out- 
grown. On  the  contrary,  the  custom  never  since 
time  began  had  such  widely  extended  and  lavish 
support  as  now.  And  Christendom,  to  its  dis- 
honor, shame,  and  condemnation,  be  it  said,  has 
become  more  warlike  than  all  other  portions  of  the 
earth.  The  great  battles  of  the  century  have  been 
fought  by  Christian  peoples  and  mostly  zvith  Chris- 
tian peoples.  Never  since  the  great  apostasy  against 
the  primitive  peace  doctrine  of  Jesus  in  the  third 
century  have  Christian  nations  exhibited  such  devo- 
tion to  military  force  and  armed  intervention  or 
resistance  as  today.  At  this  moment  they  have 
more  brain,  muscle,  science,  destructive  enginery, 
pecuniary  capital,  invested  in  the  war  system  than 
ever  before.  And  the  wars  of  this  century  have 
been  among  the  most  gigantic  ones  of  history. 
Moreov^er,  the  greatest  apologists  for  and  defenders 
of  war  have  been   of   recent  birth.      Even   professed 


406  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

advocates  of  peace  sometimes  plead  that  the  way 
to  peace  is  through  war !  A  little  more  righteous 
bloodshed  and  then  ;  yes,  then,  the  millennium  ! 

And  the  nominal  church  spreads  holy  hands  over 
this  murderous  system  and  gives  it  sanctity  and 
prestige  and  further  lease  of  life.  Its  chaplains 
lend  it  their  prayers,  invoke  God's  blessing  on 
either  and  both  sides  in  every  death-dealing  con- 
flict, offer  up  thanksgivings  over  battles  won,  and 
fast  and  lament  in  times  of  defeat,  imploring  the 
Father  of  mercies  to  reverse  the  fortunes  of  the 
sanguinary  field  and  give  the  victory  to  the  other 
side.  So  does  the  barbarism  of  war  continue,  and 
so  is  the  morality  of  the  nineteenth  century  char- 
acterized and  degraded  by  this  ''grossest  outrage 
on  the  principles  of  Christianity." 

5.  And  if  we  were  to  consider  for  a  moment 
in  a  general  way  the  actual  condition  of  society 
even  in  the  most  favored  lands  we  should  have  an 
object  lesson  throwing  a  flood  of  light  upon  the 
subject  in  hand,  and  showing  how  far  removed  the 
morality  of  today  is  from  that  of  the  pure  Gospel 
of  our  Lord.  Behold  the  ignorance,  the  unequality, 
the  selfishness,  the  intemperance,  the  sensuality, 
and  shame  that  exist  in  all  our  large  cities,  and  to 
a  lamentable  extent,  throughout  our  own  and  other 
lands;  behold  the  appalling  contrasts  in  modern 
civilization  of  wealth  and  poverty,  of  luxury  and 
want,  of  comfort  and  discomfort,  of  contentment 
and  unrest,  of  happiness  and  misery;  behold  the 
allurements  of  gilded  and  fascinating  evils,  the 
temptations  to  vice  and  crime,  the  dens  of  inquity. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  407 

the  vestibules  of  perdition,  that  so  plentifully 
abound  ;  behold  the  antagonisms  that  prevail  — 
bitter  and  unrelenting  oftentimes  —  between  differ- 
ent classes  of  the  population  —  between  the  rich 
and  poor,  between  capital  and  labor,  between  em- 
ployer  and  employed  ;  behold  the  cunning  crafti- 
ness, the  chicanery  and  wire-pulling  of  common 
politics,  the  scramble  for  office,  the  traffic  in  votes, 
and  the  intrigues  of  legislation  ;  behold  the  jeal- 
ousy and  distrust,  the  spirit  of  animosity  and 
wrath,  the  unreason  and  conceit  that  characterize 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  making  enemies  of  those 
who  '*  else  like  kindred  drops  would  mingle  into 
one " ;  behold  how  the  strong  tyrannize  over  the 
weak  and  defenceless,  how  legislators  enact  injus- 
tice into  law,  how  politicians  shelter  bribery  and 
corruption,  how  nations  provide  for  and  prosecute 
the  work  of  human  slaughter  regardless  of  the 
suffering  and  distress  occasioned  thereby;  —  behold 
all  these  things  and  consider  how  opposed  they 
are  to  the  pure,  loving,  fraternal  teachings  of  the 
Master,  and  how  defective  and  blameworthy  is  the 
morality  which  makes  such  things  possible  com- 
pared with  that  of  Primitive  Christianity  —  how 
much  it  needs  to  be  elevated  and  improved  before 
it  can  be  said  in  any  large  and  truthful  way  that 
''God's  kingdom  has  come"  and  that  "His  will  is 
done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven." 

It  might  be  asked  if  I  have  no  credit  to  give 
to  the  multiform  activities  of  church  life,  or  to  the 
numerous  benevolent,  humane,  reformatory  socie- 
ties outside,  most  of  which   have  arisen  during  this 


408  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

century  and  are  designed  to  relieve  and  bless  the 
suffering  and  sorrowing  classes.  Yes,  much  credit, 
for  they  deserve  it.  But  not  all  that  is  sometimes 
claimed  for  them.  No  one  of  them  nor  all  together 
represent  or  propose  to  promote  a  symmetrical, 
complete.  Christlike  righteousness.  They  are  all 
and  each  of  them  more  or  less  partial  and  defect- 
ive—  more  or  less  vitiated  by  a  compromising 
spirit,  and  so  not  worthy  of  unqualified  commen- 
dation. Were  the  world  to  become  like  them  it 
would  still  be  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God.  I 
therefore  look  for  something  higher,  nobler,  more 
perfect,  more  Christlike,  to  come.  God  speed  its 
advent. 


DISCOURSE    XXVIII. 

GENERAL    SUMMARY  AND    APPLICATORY 
REFLECTIONS. 

"If  ye  have  bitter  envying  and  strife  in  your  hearts,  glory 
not,  and  lie  not  against  the  truth.  This  wisdom  descendeth 
not  from  above,  but  is  earthly,  sensual,  devilish."  "  But  the 
wisdom  that  is  from  above  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable* 
gentle,  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits, 
without  partiality  and  without  hypocrisy.  And  the  fruit  of 
righteousness  is  sown  in  peace  of  them  that  make  peace." 
James  iii.   14,   17,   18. 

In  the  preceding  discourses  of  the  series  com- 
prised in  this  volume  I  have  endeavored  to  portray 
and  elucidate  the  simple,  unadulterated  personal 
righteousness  of  Primitive  Christianity  in  its  two 
natural  branches  of  piety  and  morality,  and  to  set 
forth  in  contrast  therewith  the  corruptions  of  the 
same  made  by  the  nominal  Christian  Church  and 
represented  in  Christendom  from  the  second  or 
third  century  to  the  nineteenth  inclusive.  In  this 
closing  one  of  the  number,  I  will,  without  retrac- 
ing the  steps  taken  in  detail,  present  a  general 
summary  of  my  exposition  of  the  subject  that  has 
engaged  our  attention,  and  conclude  with  a  few 
applicatory  reflections. 

/.  General  Summary.  In  my  review  of  what  is 
virtually  the  history  of  Christianity  as   it   has   mani- 


410  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

fested  itself  in  the  world  for  sixteen  hundred  years, 
I  have  established,  at  least  to  my  own  satisfaction, 
the  following  definitely  stated  positions,  to  wit: 
I.  That  the  primitive  Christian  piety  and  morality 
were  pre-eminently  higher  and  more  perfect  than 
any  type  or  portraiture  of  personal  righteousness 
embodying  those  two  fundamental  elements  ever 
otherwise  commended  to  mankind  ;  containing  the 
good  of  others  without  their  defects  or  evils,  and 
transcending  them  in  completeness  and  crowning 
excellences.  2.  That  the  perfect  personal  right- 
eousness taught,  enjoined,  and  exemplified  by  Jesus 
Christ  became  gradually  and  increasingly  corrupted, 
ignored,  and  trampled  under  foot  by  the  nominal 
church  from  the  second  or  third  century  downward 
to  the  time  of  the  so-called  Protestant  Reformation 
under  Martin  Luther  and  his  distinguished  coadju- 
tors. 3.  That  while  a  powerful  reaction  then  took 
place  in  the  direction  of  a  return  to  the  original 
teachings  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  and 
while  substantial  and  highly  commendable  progress 
has  been  achieved  in  the  same  direction  since  that 
memorable  uprising,  especially  during  the  present 
century,  there  is  still  most  notable  and  irreconcila- 
ble divergence  in  both  church  and  state,  theoreti- 
cally and  practically,  from  some  of  the  most 
essential  and  distinctive  precepts  and  principles  of 
the  Prophet  of  Nazareth.  4.  That  the  only  hope 
of  ultimate  regeneration,  holiness,  and  happiness 
for  mankind  on  the  earth,  individually,  socially,  and 
universally,  lies  in  casting  off  these  corruptions  and 
perversions,  returning  to  the  primitive  Gospel  stand- 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  411 

arcl  of  truth  and  righteousness,  and  reconstructing; 
the  church  on  the  moral  and  spiritual  basis  —  the 
Rock  of  ages  —  which  constituted  its  foundation 
when  it  first  started  out  on  its  mission  of  redemp- 
tion to  the  world. 

//.  Applicatory  Reflections,  i.  Assuming  that  I 
have  borne  witness  to  important  truths,  and  borne 
it  faithfully,  the  first  reflection  is  involved  in  the 
inquiry,  Who  hath  believed  my  report  ?  or,  Who 
cares  for  it  and  will  profit  thereby  ?  Is  anything 
to  be  expected,  at  present,  from  the  leading  spirits^ 
the  rulers  of  the  nominal  church,  but  indifference 
or  perhaps  contempt  for  such  a  witness  and  for 
such  testimonies?  Little  more.  Those  who  occupy 
high  places  in  Zion  have  no  special  regard  or  love 
for  him  who  discloses  their  malfeasance  in  ofBce, 
whether  through  ignorance  or  treachery,  and  brings 
them  into  condemnation.  It  is  essentially  the  same 
with  such  today  as  it  was  with  the  high  priests 
and  scribes  of  the  time  of  Christ.  Pope,  cardinals, 
archbishops,  and  prelates  of  every  degree  in  the 
Romish  and  Greek  communions  ;  Episcopal,  Luth- 
eran, Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Methodist,  Unitarian, 
Universalist,  and  denominational  leaders  generally 
in  Protestantdom — alike  wise  in  their  own  conceits, 
and  well-enough-to-do  in  their  easy  positions  —  are 
quite  willing  to  be  ignorant  of  such  testimonies  as 
I  publish  abroad,  or,  if  casually  informed  of  them, 
are  likely  to  thrust  them  aside  with  vituperation 
or  a  sneer.  And  the  great  mass  of  their  revereiv 
tial  and  deferential  subordinates  —  the  laity — are 
expected,  as  they  are  inclined,  to  follow  in  their  wake. 


412  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

"Why,  then,"  it  may  be  asked,  ''bring  these 
backslidings,  perversions,  abuses  to  light,  denounc- 
ing them  and  testifying  against  them  ? "  Because 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  truth  impels  me  in  all  loyalty 
to  do  so.  Because  there  is  a  remnant  in  the  earth 
who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  the  Baal  of  an 
emasculated  and  disorted  Christianity,  who  will  be 
encouraged  to  hear,  consider,  resolve,  and  act  aright, 
and  whose  numbers  will  be  multiplied  by  such  tes- 
timonies and  appeals.  Because  woes  are  coming 
on  them  that  are  at  reprehensible  ease  in  Zion ; 
they  are  to  be  deprived  of  unhallowed  power  and 
advantage ;  they  are  to  be  criticised,  exposed,  and 
brought  to  confusion  by  the  growing  intelligence 
of  men ;  they  are  ultimately  to  be  winnowed  as 
with  a  fan  and  purged  as  with  fire ;  the  heavens 
are  to  be  shaken  over  their  heads  and  the  earth 
made  to  quake  beneath  their  feet,  till  their  errors 
and  falsities  became  utterly  hateful  to  them  and  are 
disowned  and  cast  off  forever.  In  those  days  will 
«uch  counsels  as  mine  be  precious  to  them  as  "the 
fine  gold  of  Ophir,"  and  help  them  to  gain  some 
sure  refuge  from  the  impending  doom.  Therefore 
I  cannot  refrain  from  a  duty  so  imperative  and  yet 
now  so  thankless.  There  is  a  future  for  me  and 
my  cause. 

2.  Another  reflection  is  that  I  have  no  more  favor- 
able reception  to  expect  for  my  testimonies  from 
self-styled  liberals  outside  the  church  —  rationalists, 
transcendentalists,  scientists,  spiritists,  and  skeptics 
generally  —  than  is  accorded  them  by  professing 
Christians     themselves,    of    high    and    low    degree. 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  41S 

Why  not  ?  Because  my  essential  Gospel  is  to  them 
foolishness  ;  they  belittle  if  they  do  not  despise  its 
very  foundation,  Jesus  Christ  being  the  chief  cor- 
ner stone.  The  Prophet  of  Galilee  is  no  divine 
teacher  to  them,  and  his  declarations  and  require- 
ments have  no  conclusive  authority.  They  are 
supremely  conscious  of  their  own  sufficiency  and 
feel  the  need  of  no  such  help  as  he  has  to  offer 
for  their  instruction,  guidance,  comfort,  salvation, 
peace,  and  joy.  At  the  same  time  they  have  na 
essentially  higher,  nobler,  more  perfect  ethical  sys- 
tem to  propose  for  the  acceptance  and  governance 
of  mankind  than  the  degenerate  church  furnishes  — 
a  linsey-woolsey  moral  philosophy  and  a  sword-sus- 
tained, blood-shedding  civilization.  Besides,  it  is 
not  the  genius  of  these  several  classes  of  persons 
to  build  up  the  perfect  thought  and  life  in  individ- 
uals or  in  society  and  among  the  nations,  but  to 
overthrow  and  destroy  the  imperfect; — to  criticise,, 
find  fault  with,  and  bring  into  disrepute,  doctrines, 
customs,  institutions,  which  they  have  neither  the 
wisdom  nor  virtue  to  supersede  with  better  ones. 
So  for  the  present  I  hope  for  nothing  more  from 
all  such  than  to  see  their  partial,  destructive,  inade- 
quate efforts  overruled  by  divine  providence  for  the 
gradual  elimination  from  human  affairs  of  ecclesi- 
astical and  religious  assumption,  bigotry,  miscon- 
ception, perversity,  and  corruption.  When  they  have 
fulfilled  this  mission,  undesignedly  and  unconsciously 
on  their  part,  and  find  how  unsatisfactory  such  a  use 
of  time,  talent,  energy  is,  they  will  then,  perchance, 
like  starved  prodigals,  seek  after  that  true  bread  of 


414  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

Heaven  which  Christ  evermore  giveth  to  those  who 
hunger  and  thirst  for  it  ;  even  that  righteousness 
which  he  taught  and  exemplified  and  which  is  for 
the  healing  of  the  nations  and  the  redemption  of 
the  world.  I  therefore  cherish  no  vain  expectations 
of  good  from  this  quarter,  but  sow,  while  my  day 
lasts,  the  seed  of  the  kingdom  and  wait  unto  the 
fulness  of  times  for  the  surely  coming  harvest. 

3.  Another  reflection  which  weighs  on  my  mind 
is  in  the  form  of  an  impression  — an  inspiration,  as 
it  were,  from  the  unseen  world,  that  sometime  in 
the  not  far  distant  future,  a  radical  reconstruction 
of  the  Christian  church  must  be  commenced  on 
the  basis  of  the  original  one  as  the  Apostles  founded 
it  —  a  reconstruction  which  shall  separate  it  entirely 
from  all  existing  ecclesiastical  and  political  organi- 
zations, and  so  relieve  it  of  all  demoralizing  and 
blameworthy  compromise  with  whatever  is  anti- 
Christian  or  un-Christian  in  their  structure,  polity, 
or  adminstration.  This  work  of  establishing  the 
church  anew  on  its  original  foundations  cannot  be 
inaugurated  without  suitable  material  for  the  super- 
structure. The  number  of  those  entering  into  this 
work  need  not  be  large,  but  each  one  of  the  num- 
ber must  be  an  intelligent,  thoroughly  determined, 
and  consecrated  convert  to  the  principles  of  pure, 
practical  Christianity,  and  as  thoroughly  imbued 
with  its  spirit  of  perfect  love  to  God  and  man  ; 
and  must  be  willing  and  ready,  at  whatever  sacri- 
fice, to  stand  by  the  undertaking  through  good 
report  and  ill  report  till  the  consummation  be 
achieved.     Each  one  participating  in   the  enterprise 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  415 

must  understand  what  it  is  in  its  fundamental  and 
vital  characteristics,  as  contrasted  with  a  contami- 
nated and  false  Christianity  and  with  an  unchris- 
tianized  civilization.  Ignorance,  confusion,  and  moral 
faithlessness  will  not  serve  the  end  in  view  but 
rather  imperil  it.  Its  co-workers  must  each  and  all 
be  willing  to  acknowledge  its  distinctive  principles 
of  theology,  piety,  and  morality  ;  not  from  selfish 
motives  or  social  constraint  ;  not  because  enjoined 
and  required  ;  but  from  full,  free,  hearty  conviction 
and  a  conscience  void  of  offence.  All  must  be 
united  in  the  bonds  of  a  true  fellowship  of  the 
spirit,  so  as  to  act  together  with  one  accord  in 
whatever  is  calculated  to  advance  the  common  cause, 
and  must  hold  their  union  above  all  things  sacred 
and  indissoluble.  Their  church  and  what  it  repre- 
sents of  truth,  of  righteousness,  of  honor,  of  fidel- 
ity to  God  and  man,  must  always  take  precedence 
of  any  other  human  interest  or  institution  that 
comes  into  competition  with  it  ;  must  not  be  made 
subservient  or  secondary  to  any  association  or 
movement  that  would  thrive  at  its  expense.  Neither 
extreme  individualism,  nor  personal  antagonism,  nor 
any  pretended  religious,  moral,  philanthropic,  or 
social  specialty,  must  be  allowed  to  weaken  the 
bonds  that  join  the  members  to  each  other  or 
impair  their  efficiency  as  fellow-laborers  together 
with  God  for  human  uplifting  and  sanctification. 
Otherwise,  the  whole  thing  will  prove  a  sham  and 
a  failure.  It  were  better  to  postpone  such  a  radi- 
cal reconstructive  undertaking  a  thousand  years 
than    attempt    it    with     incoherent    materials    on    a 


416  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

foundation  of  sand.  Such  a  church  would  never  be 
a  detriment  to  existing  civil  government,  nor  its 
submissive  slave,  nor  a  time-serving  sycophant  fawn- 
ing at  its  feet,  but  a  self-regulating,  self-supporting, 
self-sacrificing  antetype  and  fore-runner  of  a  true 
Christian  civilization  —  a  veritable  kingdom  of  God 
on  earth,  as  its  great  Founder  intended  undoubtedly 
that  his  church  should  be. 

4.  One  other  reflection  comes  to  my  mind  ;  and 
that  is  the  necessity  of  avoiding  the  mistake  of 
trusting  too  much  to  fragmentary,  special  moral 
reform  societies  or  movements,  having  as  an  object 
some  one  particular  evil  to  overcome  and  put  away 
or  some  one  good  cause  to  promote  and  make 
triumphant.  They  are  but  partial  in  their  scope, 
at  the  best,  and  often  superficial  in  their  purpose, 
having  no  deep,  radical,  comprehensive  principles 
as  the  bed-rock  basis  of  their  action.  They  are  not 
infrequently  of  a  semi-political  character  and  exceed- 
ingly liable  to  resort  to  the  customary  compromise 
and  chicanery  of  political  life  in  order  to  secure  the 
ends  they  have  in  view.  They  are  often  composed 
of  heterogeneous  elements  consorting  together  for  a 
single  given  purpose,  but  agreeing  in  scarcely  any- 
thing beside.  They  may  make  great  professions, 
magnify  the  importance  of  their  distinctive  work 
and  would  fain  have  us  believe  that  the  success  of 
their  efforts  will  be  the  dawning  or  the  full-risen 
day  of  the  millennium.  Let  no  one  be  misled  by 
such  representations  or  caused  to  think  that  their 
way  is  the  only  or  the  chief  way  to  regenerate 
and  transform   humanity.     Whoever  trusts  in    them 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  417 

for  any  great,  comprehensive  redemptive  work,  or 
in  their  methods  as  the  means  of  curing  the  mani- 
fold ills  of  humanity  and  of  establishing  the  reign 
of  brotherhood  and  peace  on  the  earth,  will  be  dis- 
appointed ;  and  whoever  expends  his  time,  thought, 
energy,  strength  exclusively  upon  them  with  the 
expectation  that  by  so  doing  he  is  rendering  the 
only  or  the  most  effectual  service  of  God  and  man 
possible,  will  sooner  or  later,  in  this  or  some  com- 
ing world,  find  that  he  was  in  serious  error  and 
that  much  of  his  effort  was  spent  to  little  purpose. 
They  are  in  their  very  nature  unequal  to  so  great 
and  sublime  a  work  as  Primitive  Christianity  pro- 
poses to  accomplish  in  the  world,  and  their  methods 
are,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  human  procedure  and 
under  existing  circumstances,  equally  limited  and 
inadequate.  They  all,  I  concede,  have  their  uses, 
do  more  or  less  good,  help  on  in  greater  or  less 
degree  the  better  time  coming,  fill  a  place  in  the 
redemptive  plan  of  the  eternal  providence  of  God. 
But  they  have  not  that  breadth  of  purpose,  that 
strength  of  principle,  that  weight  of  character,  that 
uncompromising  spirit,  that  reliance  upon  moral 
and  spiritual  agencies  necessary  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  proposed  regeneration  of  the  Christian 
church  and  world. 

5.  Another  reflection  is  suggested  by  the  inquiry, 
whether,  after  all,  we  ought  not  to  put  a  higher 
estimate  than  we  have  done  upon  the  moral  influ- 
ence exerted  by  the  church  as  a  whole,  through 
the  multiform  denominations,  sects,  parties  repre- 
sented  therein,  for    the    restoration    of   the  original 


418  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

morality  of  the  Gospel  and  the  ultimate  triumph 
of  Primitive  Christianity  among  men.  Perhaps  so, 
but  I  do  not  see  it.  I  see  that  all  these  religious 
bodies,  in  co-operation  with  other  beneficent  agen- 
cies alluded  to,  have  important  uses  in  the  general 
system  of  things,  and,  notwithstanding  serious  short- 
comings and  even  trangressions  against  truth  and 
righteousness,  are  made  under  divine  wisdom  to 
subserve  most  desirable  ends.  But  viewed  as  direct 
and  all-sufficient  means  to  the  supreme  object  in 
view,  I  deem  them  radically  impotent  and  ineffectual. 

In  the  first  place  they  are  each  and  all  rendered 
insensible  of  the  necessity  of  any  such  profound, 
vital  transformation  as  this  entire  discussion  in- 
volves, by  the  spirit  of  undoubting  self-satisfaction 
with  which  they  are  possessed  ;  and  this  not  only 
paralyzes  effort  but  utterly  disqualifies  them  for 
efficient  service  in  its  behalf.  They  already  have, 
in  their  own  esteem,  all  essential  Gospel  truth,  and 
why  should  they  trouble  themselves  with  any  call 
or  cause  which  implies  that  they  have  not ;  they 
already  maintain  and  represent,  in  their  own  opinion, 
all  the  piety  and  virtue  that  is  at  present  practi- 
cable, and  why  should  they  devote  time,  energy, 
effort,  to  attain  anything  different  ?  Why  attempt 
impossibilities  ?  Surely  enough,  why  should  they  ? 
Granting  their  premises,  based  upon  their  conceit, 
and  their  conclusion  is  inevitable.  So  that  on 
that  ground,  nothing  definite,  positive,  effectual  is 
to  be  hoped  from   them. 

And  then,  again,  the  whole  theological  system 
upon  which    the    vast    majority    of    these    religious 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  419 

organizations  is  based,  —  the  theory  of  life,  duty, 
and  destiny  which  underlies  and  animates,  in  large 
degree,  their  varied  activities,  furnishing  end  and 
motive  of  all  endeavor,  is  not  consonant  with  or 
friendly  to  that  universal  holiness  and  happiness  of 
mankind  that  I  magnify  and  commend  as  the  crown- 
ing object  of  human  study  and  pursuit.  Note  some 
of  its  distinctive  characteristics.  A  ruined  world, 
doomed  to  everlasting  punishment ;  an  offended 
Deity,  who  will  not  and  cannot  save  to  the  utter- 
most ;  an  atonement  in  Christ's  sacrifice  which, 
though  it  may  be  offered  to  all,  is  limited  to  a 
few  —  to  those  only  who  by  faith  accept  it  in  this 
life  ;  an  endless  hell  of  hopeless  agony  and  despair 
for  all  beside,  the  great  majority  of  the  human 
race ;  deliverance  from  this  impending,  never-end- 
ing doom,  "the  chief  concern  of  mortals  here 
below";  and  fear  of  it  the  leading  motive  to  an 
orderly,  upright,  holy,  devout  life.  Now,  the  divine 
economy  of  the  world  thus  characterized,  upon 
which  the  belief,  thought,  and  conduct  of  the  vast 
majority  of  professing  Christians  ecclesiastically 
rests,  is  either  true  or  false.  If  true,  then  all  I 
have  said  about  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  his  loving 
interest  in  all  his  human  children,  his  disposition 
and  ability  to  save  them  all  from  sin  and  to  perfect 
them  in  righteousness,  is  false  and  misleading;  as 
is  all  my  teaching  concerning  Christ  as  a  great 
moral  and  religious  teacher  and  divinely  appointed 
leader  in  this  work  of  universal  human  redemption. 
And  as  is  also  what  I  have  declared  to  be  the 
foundation  truths   upon   which   is    built    the    resplen- 


420  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

dent  superstructure  of  primitive  Christian  morality 
as  I  have  outlined  and  described  it.  But  if  the 
divine  economy  of  the  dominant  churches  of  Chris- 
tendom be  false,  then  my  testimonies  are  sound, 
trustworthy,  and  invulnerable.  In  either  case,  those 
churches  are  obviously  disqualified  and  incompetent 
for  the  w^ork  of  moral  and  religious  reconstruction 
for  which  I   pray,  labor,  and  suffer  reproach. 

And  as  to  the  more  rational,  liberal,  humane  sects, 
whose  theological  doctrines  and  theories  are  more 
accordant  with  what  I  propose,  they  are  so  few  in 
numbers  and  so  limited  in  resources  and  influence 
that  they  are  but  as  small  dust  in  the  balance 
when  compared  with  the  great  mass  of  Christian 
believers  and  with  the  manifold  other  denomina- 
tions of  Christendom.  Moreover,  they  are  more  or 
less  affected  by  that  feeling  of  self-complacency 
and  habit  of  self-adulation  which  checks  energy 
and  restrains  effort  in  the  direction  of  radical 
reform  and  reconstruction  on  a  higher  level  than 
that  occupied  by  them ;  while  their  faith  in,  com- 
plicity with,  and  subserviency  to  the  political  and 
military  systems  and  policies  of  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  constitute  a  sort  of  background  to  their 
entire  denominational  and  religious  life.  For  these 
reasons  little  more  reliance  can  be  placed  upon 
them  in  their  organic  capacity  for  the  proposed 
transformation  of  the  Christian  world  than  upon 
their  more  orthodox  fellow-devotees. 

6.  A  final  reflection,  of  the  gravest  importance 
it  seems  to  me,  arises  as  we  draw  this  discussion 
to  a  close,  relating  to  the  line  of  duty  which  should 


AND   ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  421 

be  pursued  by  those  honestly  believing  in  and 
thoroughly  committed  to  the  principles  and  ideas 
proclaimed  in  these  discourses,  during  the  period 
that  must  in  the  nature  of  the  case  intervene  before 
the  work  of  actual  reconstruction  of  the  church  can 
be  commenced.  That  period  will  necessarily  be  a 
transitional  one,  characterized  by  the  unsettling  of 
long-cherished  theories  and  opinions,  the  breaking 
up  and  discarding  of  old  customs  and  methods  of 
administration,  and  the  discussing,  formulating,  and 
adopting  of  new  ones  suited  to  the  more  perfect 
dispensation  of  the  truth  and  grace  that  came  by 
Jesus  Christ.  It  will  be  a  period  of  considerable 
length,  continuing  through  scores  of  years,  perhaps 
centuries.  For  such  radical  and  coniprehensive 
reforms  as  that  contemplated  and  prophesied  are 
not  accomplished  in  a  moment.  No  sudden  and 
mighty  upheaval  can  bring  them  to  pass.  They 
can  only  be  realized  after  long-protracted,  patient, 
earnest,  thoughtful  study,  research,  constructive 
effort,  and  possibly  repeated  experimentation. 

But  what,  I  ask,  are  those  of  us  who  see  the 
importance  of  this  reconstruction,  and  who  are  our- 
selves we  fain  believe  ready  for  it,  to  do  mean- 
while ?  We  are  few  in  numbers,  and  powerless,  so 
far  as  any  outward,  positive  movement  to  realize 
our  ideal  is  concerned,  against  the  vast  multitudes 
who  are  satisfied  with  what  now  is,  or  who,  at 
least,  feel  no  necessity  of  conscience  or  of  divine 
requirement  laid  upon  them  to  strike  out  boldly 
for  anything  radically  different  and  more  in  accord 
with  the  primitive  type  of  church  organization  and 


422  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

administration.  I  will  endeavor  to  state  from  my 
stand-point  what  we  are  to  do  —  what  we  can  do 
and  what  we  can  not  or  ought  not  do.  We  can 
not  be  the  unqualified,  subservient,  acquiescing 
devotees  of  any  existing  denomination,  sect,  or 
party  in  church  or  state  ;  for  the  reason  that  they 
are  each  and  all  more  or  less  defective  in  respect 
to  the  essentials  of  Primitive  Christianity  —  are 
more  or  less  involved  in  the  practical  denial 
or  open  violation  of  those  essentials.  But  some 
are  much  less  so  than  others,  and  at  the  same 
time  much  less  disposed  to  hold  their  members 
to  a  stringent  fealty  to  denominational,  secta- 
rian, or  partisan  views  and  methods  —  much  more 
tolerant  of  individual  convictions  and  scruples,  and 
much  more  willing  to  grant  entire  freedom  of 
thought  and  utterance,  even  to  the  extent  of  open 
dissent,  to  those  whom  they  welcome  to  their  ranks 
and  fellowship.  Some,  indeed,  are  nominally  com- 
mitted to  the  idea  of  human  progress,  readily  con- 
fessing that  there  is  more  light  to  break  forth  from 
the  divine  word,  and  regarding  favorably  whatever 
is  proclaimed  or  done  in  the  name  of  reform  and 
for  the  bettering  of  the  condition  of  mankind. 
When  association  and  co-operation  with  such  can 
be  gained  and  maintained  without  compromising 
principle  or  abandoning  the  cause  of  church  recon- 
struction, as  I  think  may  sometimes  be  the  case, 
it  is  well  to  take  advantage  of  them.  In  so  doing 
one  may  have  the  opportunity  of  accomplishing 
much  good  in  directions  and  along  lines  opened 
for  the   prosecution   of    moral,   social,    philanthropic, 


AND    ITS    CORRUPTIONS.  423^ 

religious  activities  of  various  sort,  and  wholly  unob- 
jectionable, and  also  of  testifying  to  and  dissemi- 
nating those  higher  truths  and  principles  which 
have  been  revealed  to  him,  and  so  helping  to  pro- 
mote the  great  object  which  he  will  ever  keep  in 
view  as  the  ultimate  aim  of  all  his  endeavors  and 
desires. 

Otherwise,  if  no  such  denomination,  sect,  or 
party,  can  be  found  granting  cordially  this  large 
liberty  and  this  unobjectionable  privilege,  then 
complete  independence  should  be  assumed  and  main- 
tained, whatever  the  present  privations  or  incon- 
veniences —  whatever  misunderstanding,  reproach, 
or  calumny  may  be  incurred  thereby.  So  Christ 
himself  did,  and  no  one  can  go  far  astray  who, 
under  similar  circumstances,  walks  in  the  footsteps- 
of  the  great  Exemplar.  No  true  man  or  woman 
receiving  the  doctrines  taught  in  these  discourses 
and  seeking  to  promote  the  sublime  ends  and  aims 
herein  set  forth,  can  afford  to  enter  into  any 
entangling  or  compromising  alliances  whereby  he 
will  be  proven  false  to  his  own  best  convictions, 
false  to  his  acknowledged  leader,  and  false  to  his 
God,  thus  losing  his  self-respect,  his  moral  power, 
his  very  soul.  Nor  can  one  afford  to  hide  his 
light  under  a  bushel  or  obscure  it  with  mists  and 
clouds  by  submissive,  unquestioning  fellowship  with 
others  in  a  confederation  or  society  which  sanc- 
tions, consents  to,  or  even  tolerates  the  falsities, 
abuses,  and  corruptions  which  have  characterized 
the  ecclesiastical,  social,  and  political  life  of  Chris- 
tendom for  the  past  sixteen  hundred  years.     To  da 


424  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

SO  is  treason  to  Christ  and  to  the  cause  of  human 
regeneration.  Nothing  can  be  more  ignoble  than 
to  join  a  company  or  go  with  the  multitude  to  do 
evil,  or  to  maintain  any  doctrine,  custom,  or  insti- 
tution known  to  be  contrary  to  the  truths  and 
requirements  of  Primitive  Christianity.  To  do  this 
may  be  popular,  may  win  the  applause  of  the  crowd, 
may  secure  many  worldly  advantages,  but  it  would 
be  basely  wicked.  By  standing  alone  and  independ- 
ent for  conscience's  and  principle's  sake,  we  main- 
tain a  testimony  which  may  not  avail  much  in  our 
own  day  and  generation,  but  which  will  tell  in  the 
long  run  and  with  succeeding  generations  for  the 
advancement  of  the  truth  we  cherish  and  the  enfran- 
chisement and  sanctification  of  the  world.  It  may 
be  impossible  for  us  just  now  to  convert  others  to 
our  high  and  sacred  standard  of  duty,  or  even  to 
induce  any  considerable  number  to  hear  or  read 
and  consider  our  reasons  for  the  faith  that  is  in 
us;  but  one  thing  we  can  do,  God  helping  us,  and 
that  is  maintain  our  own  individual  integrity.  If 
the  world  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  our  testimonies  and 
-appeals ;  if  it  sneer  at,  or  curse,  or  persecute  us, 
let  us  trust  in  God  and  defy  all  threatened  evil 
consequences.  Pursuing  this  course  we  do.  the  best 
thing  that  can  be  done,  under  the  circumstances, 
to  arrest  the  attention  of  noble-minded  men  and 
women  striving  to  serve  God  and  save  humanity, 
to  commend  our  distinctive  views  of  truth  and  duty 
to  pure,  generous,  Christlike  souls,  and  so  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  coming  of  a  regenerate  church 
and  of  the  divine  kingdom  to  the  world.     Thus  dis- 


AND    ITS   CORRUPTIONS.  425 

charging  our  whole  duty,  as  we  see  our  duty,  we 
shall  satisfy  our  own  consciences  and  find  acceptance 
with  Him  who  judgeth  righteously  ;  and  our  labors, 
humble  though  they  be  and  counted  of  little  worth 
by  the  wise  and  prudent  of  this  world,  shall,  under 
the  sheltering  care  of  the  eternal  providence,  be 
made  to  contribute  their  appropriate  share  to  the 
grand  consummation. 

With  these  reflections,  which  constitute  the  larger 
part  of  the  present  discourse,  I  close  this,  the 
second  volume  of  my  general  Exposition  of  Primi- 
tive Christianity  and  its  Corruptions  during  the 
successive  periods  that  have  transpired  since  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  went  about  preaching  the  Gospel  of  a 
better  life  to  the  children  of  men.  Whosoever  will 
profit  by  what  I  have  said,  let  him  profit ;  and  who- 
soever will  deride  and  scorn  it,  let  him  do  so  at 
his  own  risk  of  loss  and  condemnation  —  setting 
forth  and  making  evident,  if  he  can,  a  more  excel- 
lent way  for  the  attainment  of  the  transcendent 
object  in  view,  the  inauguration  of  that  long-prayed- 
for  era  when  "  God's  kingdom  shall  have  come  and 
His  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."  In 
His  own  time,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  the  infinite 
Father,  in  whose  name  and  under  whose  inspiration 
I  have  spoken,  vindicate  my  testimonies  and  make 
them  effectual  by  His  unfailing  wisdom  for  the 
advancement  of  the  cause  of  truth  in  the  world 
and  the  furtherance  of  His  infinite  purpose  of  good 
concerning  the  children  of  men.  And  so,  while  to 
me  is  given  the  honor  and  the  reward  of  the  ser- 
vice I   render,  to   Him,  for  all  the  beneficent  results 


426  PRIMITIVE    CHKISTIANITY 

accomplished  and  for  the  victory  finally  won,   shall 
be  the  glory  forever. 

In  my  third  and  last  volume  of  this  series  I  pro- 
pose to  declare,  expound,  and  defend  the  distinctive- 
Ecclesiastical  Polity  and  Social  Order  inculcated, 
and  enjoined  by  pure  Primitive  Christianity. 


DATE  DUE 

m 

GAYLORD 

FRINTEOIN  USA. 

Princeton  Theological   Seminary   Libraries 


1    1012   Q1166   2188 


